Moonlight
by MoonGirl1155
Summary: Lyla knew she wasn't normal,but at least she wasn't as weird as her cousin Jamie,who talked to himself all the time.But then she actually sees the person Jamie talks to,and refuses to believe that he is real.Jack tries everything to try and make her believe in him,and maybe she likes him,maybe she doesn't.But it doesn't matter anyway,because he can't seem to get enough. Jack/OC
1. Introduction, Prologue, and Chapter 1

**WHY HELLO THERE FANFICTION VIEWER!**

**I don't know why you decided to check out this story and read it, maybe it was because of the description or amount of reviews, maybe it was the genre or style, maybe someone even recommended it to you. But either way, I'M GLAD YOU DID!**

**Even though I may seem crazy, in about two chapters you will be glad too. Maybe even in the first chapter.** **MAYBE EVEN IN THE PROLOGUE!**

**Goodness wouldn't that be something.**

**But here is a heads-up in what you will encounter in this EXTREMELY long, romantic, angsty, sadistic, family OC story:**

**Depression**

**Suicide Attempts (not promoting it, just read the story and you'll understand)**

**Angst**

**Suggestive Behavior**

**Romance**

**Death**

**Blood**

**Torture**

**Disturbing Imagery**

**Pregnant People (DONT ASK)**

**AND MUCH MORE! ALL IN ONE FIC! JUST FOR YOU! *0***

**I am hoping to get a MINIMUM of 500 reviews for this story, and a MINIMUM of 100 chapters. SO PLEASE PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! I give shoutouts to those who review.**

**JUST ONE MORE THING TO ADD IN THIS FREAKISHLY LONG AND BIZARRE INTRODUCTION! (P.S there is a prologue below)**

**1.) Pitch is an OOC bastard. Feel free to despise him.**

**2.) Jack is an angel. (Not literally)**

**3.) Jamie is also and angel. (also not literally)**

**4.) Tooth has emotional issues. 0_0**

**WELL...if that doesn't have you hooked yet, I don't know what will! MAYBE THE AMAZING PROLOGUE THAT IS COMING** **UP NEXT! :D**

* * *

**Prologue:**

Everyone on this earth has a light.

No matter how young or old, race or religion, everyone has something special in their life that makes them believe in something better.

Something that keeps them fighting through the horrors they face everyday, that gives them the courage to continue on. Something more important than anything else, something that they would die a thousand times for. Something that they do battle for, when the demons from hell try to take it away.

But no matter how faint and far away that little speck of heaven can get, it will always remain in your soul. No demon, no devil, no monster could ever steal it forever. Because belief is stronger than death.

For some people, their light is their religion, the god they worship. Others it's their children, their family. Some it's just the things they love, the things they put into the world to make it a better place. For some it is the person they love.

My name is Lyla Bennett, and my light came from the moon.

* * *

**CHAPTER 1:**

"Hey Jamie, watch this!" Jack said, blowing cold air into his fingers that quickly transformed into a hard packed snowball. He gave Jamie a mischievous grin and then chucked the wad of snow across the street and hitting another kid in the back of the head, causing them to crash into the snow behind them.

He and Jamie laughed, along with the Jack's newest snowball victim's friends. He gave Jamie a high five, and the children across the street all turned to stare at him. Jamie quickly pointed at him, only to cause the other kids to stare at him in wonder.

"They can't see me, remember?" Jack told the younger boy, and the kids picked up snowballs in their hands and ran towards them, poised to strike.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea Jack." Jamie said worriedly, and Jack just laughed and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, you've got me on your side." he said, and Jamie's eyes gleamed with joy.

After several minutes of heavy snowball fighting, the children starting laughing and piled on top of each other, shoving snow into each others hair playfully. Jack flew backwards and sat on top of the statue, and Jamie shot him a thumbs up from the bottom of the pig-pile and Jack flashed him a grin.

Eventually Jamie climbed out from under the other kids, and Jack sat on the statue, listening to their conversation.

"That was so cool man! You wanna come over to my place and do that again?" a boy asked, one who was wearing a Red hat.

"Yeah!" a girl chirped in, who was wearing a pink scarf. Jamie shook his head.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna stay here for a while." he replied, and the other kids appeared dismayed.

"You sure?" Red hat asked.

"Yeah." Jamie.

"Your gonna stay here all alone?" Pink Scarf questioned, and Jamie shook his head again.

"No, I won't be alone." he said, smiling, turning his head to look at Jack. The other kids turned in Jack's direction, searching for what Jamie was looking at, but he knew they would never find him.

Why? Because Jack Frost was invisible.

Well, as long as you didn't believe in him. Which was pretty much everyone except for Jamie, who had only begun to believe about a year ago, when Jack had become a Guardian. Other than that, he had been utterly alone for 300 years, which was every second since his resurrection.

Being alone that long had taken a toll on him, he had caused some nasty snowstorms, including the blizzard of '68, which still annoyed the heck out of Bunnymund. He had developed a tendency to talk to himself and sarcastic attitude, and stole things. But ever since last year, things had started to change, now that he was a Guardian, he had to be more responsible.

Which is almost _impossible_ for a 300 year old teenager.

Guardians protect the children of the world from fear and harm, and recently, nightmares. The other Guardians were Nick St. North, Tooth, Sandy, and Bunny. A.k.a, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, The Sandman, and the Easter bunny. Yeah, they're all real, and so was he. He was Jack Frost, and he could control the winter weather.

_If_ _only_ more people believed in him.

Not that he didn't like Jamie, Jamie was like a younger brother to him. Even before the younger boy believed in him, Jack had felt a sense of protection over the kid. Now that he could actually see him, Jack had made a real friend over the year, not someone that he only had a one sided conversation with.

Jack glanced up, thinking deeply. But something brought him sharply out of his thoughts, shaking him as if he was freezing.

Except he never felt cold, not so that he shivered.

"_Whoa_."

Jack felt warm, like really warm. As if was melting, burning on fire. He stared across the street, continuously waiting for the image in front of him to disappear like a mirage with each passing vehicle.

Was he asleep? He pinched himself just to make sure.

"Ouch!"

_Nope_.

But what was real, was the person sitting exactly across from him on the other side of the street, someone that he had never seen before in his life.

The person was a girl, wearing a blue hat which left a dark shadow across her pale face, and covered up the top of her hair, with was a mixture of blonde and brown, some solid color inbetween. Curved around her face and ended at her chin, but locks of it stuck out and covered her eyes.

She was wearing an ashy gray button down overcoat and a white scarf, and some dark wash jeans that ended at her shins where a pair of dark brown winter boots began. She looked pretty colorless and boring, until he saw her eyes.

They were almost exactly like his, except they shone even brighter and had a certain blue tint that he swore he had seen before.

Her eyes were amazing, and they were digging into his, as if she could see him.

"_What_?" she mouthed at him, and he almost had a heart attack.

She could _see_ him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! Thanks for all the attention guys! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 2:**

Lyla was freezing, and she hated it. She was constantly rubbing her hands together and chattering her teeth, but she didn't go back home. She just kept on walking through the ice coated sidewalks, keeping her eyes peeled for any signs.

If her annoying little cousin that she was supposed to be babysitting hadn't taken off somehow, she wouldn't be out here. She didn't even have a clue exactly how he hit outside, he was in his room the entire time and didn't come down the stairs. The only other option was that he climbed out the window, but she doubted it. He probably just snuck past her when she wasn't paying attention.

Lyla groaned, she could barely feel get toes and the sun was glaring down on her, making her feel blind and long for a pair of sunglasses.

If she wasn't so miserable, she would be drowning in worry a lot faster than she already was. First of all, Jamie could be kidnapped or hurt or who knows what, and she might not be able to find him. Second, the had to leave his younger sister, Sophie, home with her best friend, Alex, who was definitely not the most responsible person in the world.

Lyla sighed and sat down onto a bench, hugging her shoulders tightly. Why did Burgess have to be cold almost all the time! She swore that no other place got as much snow as they did.

Suddenly a high pitched voice broke through her complainitive thoughts, and on instant she knew it belonged to Jamie. She glanced up and the first thing she saw was Jamie, sitting on a statue next to a boy, who was wearing a blue hoodie and tan... trousers? Who wears those? She doubted that no one even made those anymore. Either they were trousers of the ugliest pair of pants she had ever seen. He was holding a long curved stick in his hand, which was so pale that it blended in with the snow, and his spiky hair. The longer she watched, she realized that he was so white he should be dead, and then the weirdest part of all.

The boy wasn't wearing _shoes_.

Suddenly he looked up, and stared right at her, and all she could see were two icy blue eyes, gazing at her in amazement.

Lyla pried her mind for memories or thoughts of this boy, if she knew him or if he should be near Jamie. But she couldn't think of anything, she had never seen him before in her life. Considering the fact that he was staring at her like a stalker and that Jamie had no friends, Lyla came to the conclusion that she needed to get her younger cousin away from that guy.

Lyla stood up from the bench and glared at the boy, an began walking across the street, ready to do whatever it took to get Jamie-

A shrill sound stopped her in her tracks, as something slid across the icy road, and she turned her head to see a giant wall of metal heading straight towards her.

**Jack:**

"Jack? Jack! Earth to Jack!" Jamie yelled, almost breaking him out of his trance.

"Yeah Jamie?" he replied, still staring at the girl.

"What are you staring at?" he asked, and then jumped out in front of him, waving his arms.

Jack finally averted his gaze from the girl and looked down at Jamie.

"That girl over there. Do you know her?" he asked, trying to hide the curiosity in his voice. Jamie turned around to see what he was taking about, and the boy's eyes widened.

"Uh... Oh! Dang it that's Lyla. She's gonna kill me." Jamie said.

"Why?" Jack questioned, staring at her again as she stood up from the bench she was sitting on.

"Cause she's my cousin, and she's supposed to be babysitting me." Jamie sighed, and then glanced at his cousin nerveously.

"Hey! Jack! I think she can see you!" Jamie said suddenly, and Jack nodded.

"I think so too."

The girl, Lyla, was glaring at him, and Jack didn't know why.

Just when she had made it quickly halfway across the street, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Jack looked down the street, and to his horror saw a sixteen wheeler slide on the ice, desperately turning its wheels in an attempt to stop but ended up tipping over onto its side. The truck came rushing across the ice, and then he glanced at Jamie's cousin, who hadn't moved an inch.

Instantly, Jack started flying and took off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! Sorry for the delay but I'm in Cape Cod on vacation until the end of Tuesday (4/16/13) and I won't be able to update a ton!**

**Special Thanks to: Neusuada, who gave me a review about three seconds after I updated.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 3:**

Lyla was so startled that she didn't move, she couldn't have ran even if she had control over her legs. Her feet felt glued to the spot, and her heart stopped as the massive truck barreled towards her. She instinctively closed her eyes and stretched her arms out in front of her, waiting for impact.

She felt something ram into the side of her body, knocking the wind out of her lungs as it tackled her to the ground after flying through the air, and she smashed onto the pavement. She rolled across the asphalt with a heavy object pinning her down.

Finally Lyla stopped, with something laying on-top of her and holding her down to the pavement. It was cold and hard, like stone marble. She thought it might be part of the truck, until she felt part of it wrapped around her shoulders.

It felt like... _arms_.

Her eyes popped open and the first thing she saw was a white face, extremely close to hers. It's figures we're scrunched and she realized that the person was shielding her with their body.

The person's eyes opened at the sign of her movement, and she was blinded by the icy blue eyes staring at her.

A mere three inches away.

"What are you-"

"Stay down!" he said, cutting her off. She tried struggling and pulling her arms away from him, but even though he was about as skinny as she was, he was a lot stronger.

"Get off of me!" she yelled, and turned her head to search for anyone to help her. This guy was a nutcase.

But all she saw was a flaming pile of cars, and debry scattered everywhere.

Two seconds after she had taken this all in, she heard a loud explosion, and her eyes widened as the hood of one of the cars was tossed up into the sky and the vehicle was engulfed in flames. The boy covered her face and she scrunched her eyes shut, waiting for the small explosions to pass.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the boy slowly let go of her and climbed to his feet, and reached out to help her stand up.

Even though she knew she probably couldn't stand on her own due to the convulsive shocks rolling through her body, she glared at him and pulled herself into a standing position, feeling dizzy.

A moment later she fell forwards involuntarily, and into the boy's arms, which was one of the most humiliating things ever. He carefully helped her stand up again, holding her by her shoulders.

"You okay?" he asked, and she tilted back and forth for a minute until the nausea passed and she could see clearly. The boy was staring at her worriedly, and she glared at him in confusion.

"How...who are you and what do you want?" she said sharply, and to her surprise he smiled.

"I just saved your life and I don't even get a thank you? Sheesh." he said, and she just gaped at him. She didn't know how to respond.

"Jack?" both of their heads turned in the direction of a small voice. Suddenly her cousin Jamie came into view, walking cautiously towards them from the side of the wreckage. He spotted them and his eyes perked up.

"Jack! You're okay!" he said excitedly, and to her utter disbelief her cousin ran over and hugged the stranger standing next to her. The boy ruffled Jamie's hair and laughed.

"Of course I'm okay! But you should be more worried about your cousin." he told him, looking at her with a teasing smile on his face, which made her so mad I wanted to scream. Jamie looked up at her and his smile faded.

"Ha ha, hi Lyla." he said nervously, and she glared at him, her hands on her hips.

"Jamie, who told you that you could just _take off_! Your parents are going to _kill me_!" she said, and he frowned.

"Hey," the boy, Jamie had called him Jack, stepped out in front of him, "Look, it's my fault so don't blame him." he protested.

Lyla glared at him furiously.

"Who do you think you are?" she said, poking him in the chest, "Get away from me and my cousin before I-"

"Do what?" he said, gesturing to the air around him.

"No one can see me anyway." he said, and she finally decided that he was a lunatic. She grabbed Jamie's hand and pulled him away from him, and started walking away.

"Come on Jamie. Let's go." she said.

"But _Lyla_-"

"Let's go!" she said more sharply, and they left the boy standing all by himself.

"_Good. That freak better stay away._" she thought, and she dragged Jamie along several blocks towards home.

**Jack:**

Jamie turned back and gave him a sad look, and Jack shrugged and rolled his eyes. He waited until they were about fifteen feet away before grabbing his staff and quickly began flying after them quietly.

He was five feet above them before he tapped Jamie on the shoulder, and the younger boy turned around, and smiled broadly when he saw Jack. He put a finger to his lips, and he nodded in understanding.

Jack lowered himself a little bit, and waved his hand over Lyla's head, shaking snow off of his fingertips. The flakes fell onto her head, and she shivered, muttering under her breath. He glanced at Jamie, who was containing his laughs. He made a face behind the girls back, and Jamie stuck his tongue out at his older cousin.

Jack smiled, this was why he had always liked Jamie. The kid knew how to have a little fun. Unlike his _freakishly annoying_ stick-in-the-mud cousin.

Suddenly Jamie couldn't control himself and her laughed really loud. Lyla glared at him, and Jack flew up behind her.

"What are you laughing at Jamie?" she asked, and he mimicked her, floating just above her head. Jamie looked up at him, biting his lip, failing at his attempt not to burst into giggles.

"What are you-" Lyla looked up above her head at him, and she froze, her eyes glued on him.

Jack waved at her, grinning.

"How's the weather down there?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the shortness! Please Review!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4:**

He was _flying_.

_Literally_, _flying_. He was about five feet above her, resting how head in his hands while he watched her, smiling like he was in on some big joke. Jamie burst into hysterical laughing and rolled over on the sidewalk as she just gaped at him in awe.

"How..." she said in wonder, and Jamie finally stopped laughing just enough for him to talk.

"You should see your face!" he said, pointing at her and losing his control of laughter all over again.

'Jack' was still floating above her, smiling like crazy, while snow floated on top of her hair.

"_Snow_." she thought, and her insanity factor went off the charts.

"Who are you?" she asked slowly, shielding Jamie with her arms while the younger boy protested.

'Jack' rolled his eyes, and she took three steps backwards as he flew down, landing right in front of her.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said, grabbing her hand and holding it out, palm up. All of a sudden a massive snowflake formed around her hand, falling out of the boy's fingertips.

"I'm Jack Frost."

**Jack:**

Lyla just gaped at him, her eyes wide. He smiled, waiting for her to process it all. Honestly, he was extremely happy at the fact that someone else could see him, hear him, and actually touch him. He was trying to control his satisfaction from the warmth crawling through her fingers and onto his skin, it was a million times better than a hollow emptiness that always greeted him whenever he tried to reach out to anyone. Her fingers were extremely soft and... girly. The only other girl he could touch was Tooth, and her hands were coated in feathers. Lyla's skin was... different.

"_No wonder she thinks you're crazy. Your standing here thinking about the texture of people's skin_." he thought to himself.

Lyla stared at him with pure disbelief in her face, her pale blue eyes wide.

"Your not, you can't be, that's just not-" she stumbled, and he laughed. She finally seemed to get ahold of her shock, and she pulled her hand away, glaring at him.

"You're crazy," she stated, and held onto Jamie's wrist, "And I don't believe you."

Jacks smile vanished as those words tore through his chest like a bullet. Nothing could hurt a Guardian more than those words. I don't believe.

"He's not crazy!" Jamie protested, ripping his arm away from Lyla,"He's really Jack Frost! He's real, so is the Tooth Fairy and Santa and everybody else!"

"Now you've lost it." she said.

"I have not!"

"Did too." she said sharply, ending it. She whipped her head around towards Jack.

"Stay away from us." she demanded, and twisted back around, pulling Jamie along the street, never looking back.

* * *

**SADNESS! Next chapter will be longer! Please Please Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**OMG! I HAVE A TON OF FOLLOWERS! That means you are reading this story, so PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!**

**On a depressing note, did anyone hear about Boston today? I was in Cape Cod when the bombs went off. :(**

* * *

**CHAPTER 5:**

Lyla sighed as she walked into the house, kicking off her boots and collapsing onto the couch. Jamie had raced upstairs the minute they had walked through the door, slamming his bedroom door. She could care less what he did, as long as he stayed away from flying demons.

Flying _crazy lunatic frozen ice_ demons.

"_Who saved your life_." a small voice inside of her added, but before she could ponder it, Sophie ran up to her and hugged her legs tightly. Lyla smoothed her hair back, wondering what was happening.

"Hey Sophie, what's up?" she asked.

"I saw you on T.V with Jack!" she exclaimed, cutting the circulation off in Lyla's legs.

"What?" Lyla asked, she had been on T.V?

"Her pushed you out of the way from the truck!" she continued, and hugged her legs as if Lyla was about to disappear, and the little girl started to cry. She lifted Sophie up into her arms, shushing her.

"It's okay Sophie, I'm alright." she said soothingly, and the younger girl's sobs lessoned.

An instant later, Alex burst into the living room, breathing heavily, her cellphone pressed to the side of her cheek.

"Oh my god! Lyla! You're okay!" she exclaimed, and threw her phone onto the couch and embraced her in a hug.

Lyla was beginning to feel a little crowded from all of this attention, when all she wanted was to be alone and properly question her sanity. She _had_ seen a flying Fairytale character after all.

"Of course I'm okay." she said as they released her, placing Sophie back onto the ground.

"Sophie said I was on T.V?" she added. Alex nodded, her purple hair bouncing up and down in its cherry ponytail. Alex was her closest friend, and one of the fellow outcasts at school. People thought that Alex was weird because she dyed her hair a different color every month, and wore combat bots and other unordinary clothes. Plus, Alex was wicked smart, and everyone else seemed dumb around her. But Lyla had been friend's with her forever, and she could tell Alex anything. She had always been able to trust her with her secrets.

Except for now.

"Yeah, all we saw was a black and white video replay of the crash and you almost getting hit." Alex explained, the worry evident in her voice.

"Yeah, but Jack saved you!" Sophie exclaimed, which caused Alex to roll her eyes as Sophie took off into the other room.

"She thinks that her imaginary friend saved you." she whispered, turning on the TV.

"_Alex didn't see him?_" she thought, confused.

"Do you think it's still on TV?" she asked suddenly, an idea forming in her mind. She needed proof of her theory.

"Maybe. Let's check it out." Alex replied, clicking on the television screen and patting down the couch seat next to her for Lyla to sit in. She slid onto the futon next to get best friend, just as video popped onto the screen.

Sure enough, it showed a massive car explosion, and then she saw herself standing in the center of the street. All of a sudden she seemed to fly across the pavement and roll out of the way.

Lyla was frozen in shock. The entire video was exactly like what had happened, except for one thing.

_Jack wasn't in it._

**Jack:**

Jack swung his legs over the side of the branch, kicking his feet back and forth while he leaned his head against the trunk. He tapped his fingers onto the bark, and tiny patterns of ice formed along the tree's skin.

He was confused, and didn't know what to think. Jamie's cousin, Lyla, could clearly see him, he could touch her and speak to her. But she obviously didn't believe in him.

So how could she see him if she didn't believe?

Them there was the completely overwhelming emotion that he had experienced the first time he saw her. It was... amazing. He didn't know how to explain it, but he had never felt anything else like it in his entire 300 years.

Jack sighed, it didn't matter anyway. He knew that Lyla hadn't felt the way he did, considering how she acted. Like he was some horrible person for saving her life.

He floated down off of his branch, flying across the snow covered ground, swooping upwards until he reached a telephone line. He landed silently on the wire, and balanced across it, walking on it like a tightrope, swinging his staff around. He felt so... _empty_ for some reason. As if he had been somewhat full.

Jack looked down at the street below him, and he looked into the brightly glowing windows of the houses. Their yellow shadows stretched across the snow, and he could see the silhouettes of the people standing inside.

Suddenly a figure stepped out near the window of the house nearest to him, and looked out, pressing their hands against the frosted glass.

Jack's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"_Lyla_."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for all the love guys! I'm back home so I can update more!**

**To clear any confusion, her name IS Lyla, I just had a typo in the summary that I have recently fixed, sorry for the confusion.**

**Please Review!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 6:**

Lyla had stopped believing in Fairytales years ago, she didn't know when but she knew that it happened long before everyone else her age. She was a practical person, and bunnies who have our candy was so ridiculous that she had just accepted it was fake.

But now she saw someone fly and make it snow, claiming to be Jack Frost. She was waiting for someone to tell her that it was all some big joke, that Alex had set up a massive prank for her. Or maybe Lyla had finally lost it, maybe she was crazy.

But the car wreck had been real, and someone had pushed her out of the way, she knew that much. There was no way she had saved herself earlier today.

Besides, there was no way that any normal person could have gotten to her so fast. She had seen Jack fly... so it was possible that he really had saved her.

Maybe he _was_ real.

Lyla sighed, it was all so confusing. She didn't believe in bizarre things like this. She walked up to her bedroom window, sitting on the window seat, pressing her fingers against the glass. It was freezing, covered in frost. If that boy really was Jack Frost, did that mean that he could control the weather?

"What are you doing Lyla?" she asked herself, glancing up at her ceiling, searching for an answer. She was crazy, even just thinking about these things.

Suddenly she heard scratching on her window, and looked down from the ceiling.

The ice covering her window was slowly scratched away, forming letters that quickly began to spell out words.

"**Hi Lyla. Still don't believe in me?**" they said, and her eyes grew wide.

"_Now you've lost it_." she thought, standing up from her window seat and backing away. She thought she could hear laughing as a smily face was drawn on the glass.

"Go away." she said, clenching her fists. This was her hallucination, she could get rid if it whenever she wanted.

"**Make me**." the glass wrote.

Lyla had enough, and ran towards her window, opening it wide and watching with satisfaction as the warm air from inside wiped away all of the words.

"I'm not that easy to get rid of you know." a voice said from above her, and her eyes widened as Jack flew down from her roof so he was right outside her window. He smirked at her startled expression, and she glared at him.

"I said go away! What do you want anyway?!" she yelled at him. Then regretting it, worried that one of her parents would hear her from downstairs.

"I want to know how you can see me, and why you don't believe that I exist even though I'm right in front of you." Jack said, catching her off guard. What was he talking about?

"Of course I can see you, and you don't exist." she said.

"So, you can see me, but I don't exist? I'm waiting for that to start to make sense." he said, walking through the air and standing on her window, leaning up against the side of her house in mid air. Lyla just stared at him, still in awe at the fact that he could fly, while he just stood there smiling like he didn't have a care in the world.

"It... it doesn't make sense. That's my point. The idea that you could exist doesn't make any sense, so you're not real. I probably hit my head, and this is all some bizarre hallucination." she said, speaking more to herself. That made sense, maybe she was dreaming in the hospital, after getting hit by derby at the car wreck. Lyla started to smile, it felt so good to have finally solved it.

"Okay, so how come Jamie and Sophie can see me too?" Jack asked, and her smile faded.

"Uh... they're crazy too?" she suggested, sounding incredibly stupid. For some reason, Jack laughed.

"They _are_ related to you." he said, and now he sat down on her window, hanging his feet over the edge.

"It probably runs in the family." Lyla muttered, her worry rising. She started to think of anyone in her family with an insanity disorder, when she was interrupted but the fact that he was still sitting on her window, staring at her from two feet away. She sighed and glared at him.

"What do you want? You're a hallucination, you have to go away sometime." she said, irritated.

"I already told you. I know why you don't believe in me, which is because you think that it's your fault, that something is wrong with you. Which is pretty obvious, since you've been sitting here talking to me for a while now. I still need to know why you can see me without believing, and," he said, and then grinned at her, which sent shivers down her spine.

"I need to think of a way to get you to believe in me." he said. She scowled at him.

"Not gonna happen." she said, crossing her arms. Why did her imagination have to be so horribly annoying?

"Wanna bet?" Jack said, smiling. Which was starting to freak her out, why was he acting so outrageously happy?

"No." she said sharply, "Now go away!"

Jack shrugged.

"Alright _Blondie_."

"_What did you just call me_?" she asked, seething. She hated being called blond, her hair was more brown than blonde anyway!

"Oh, so you're blond _and_ deaf?"

Lyla screamed, her anger had finally reached the end of the fuse after all of the drama she had today, and she had enough. She lashed out, trying to push him off of her window sill and out of her life, when he moved out of the way and left her falling straight out the two-story window.

She screamed and flailed her arms, knowing that there was no way to avoid slamming into the snow below her. But suddenly she stopped, and it was as if she was floating in mid air. Something grabbed her from under her arms, lifting her up into the air. She kept her eyes closed, trying to contain any more screaming.

Suddenly she was tossed up into the air, and before she could yell, she landed in someone's arms. She kept her eyes closed as she gritted her teeth.

"If you are holding me I swear I'm going to-" she began, but before she could finish she felt soft fingers brush open her eyelids, and she found herself staring into the icy blue eyes of Jack F- her hallucination.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked, and for some reason she was finding it difficult to speak for once.

"No." she muttered. Falling had given her a huge shock, and the fact that she was outside with an icicle holding her didn't stop the shaking.

"Do you want to try flying?" he asked her suddenly, surprising her with the hopeful gleam in his eyes. Her mouth fell open.

"Do I want to do _WHAT_?" she exclaimed. Before she could try and push herself off of him and into the snow below, she felt a sudden burst of wind and they were flying through the air.


	7. Chapter 7

**I just watched the movie last night for the first time, and it was amazing! I just wish it was longer! That's probably why they're so many Fics about it! I almost cried at the end when Jamie hugged Jack! JAMIE=CUTE**

**Fluff time! 3**

**Please Review!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 7:**

Flying while carrying a passenger wasn't as easy as Jack had hoped, but he did it all the same. It was difficult for him to carry his staff, so he left it in Lyla's room. She was clinging to him as if she was about to die, and they hadn't even gotten started yet.

He called on the wind, and they moved faster, and he dived through the air, swooping so low that he could tap the icy road if he wanted to. Lyla opened her eyes for a second, and finally looked down. Her eyes widened and she held onto him tighter, her human warmth sinking into his skin.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" she yelled over the sound of the rushing wind, and he just laughed. Why was she so scared? It wasn't like he was going to let her fall.

"You should see this!" he said, and they twisted upwards, soaring high above the buildings below.

Finally Lyla opened her eyes again, and before she could flinch away, her tilted her head towards him, making her look him in the eyes. Her turquoise irises were the brightest he had ever seen, and for some reason the world around him seemed to disappear for a second.

"Hey, don't worry. You're not gonna fall." he told her, and she nodded slowly. He smiled, and they rested in mid-air for a moment. Lyla slowly inched herself away from her fetal position, and he could feel her repositioning in his arms. She glanced over the edge, and to his surprise she didn't turn back, but gazed at the ground below with surprise.

"We're really high." she whispered.

"I've been higher." he stated, and she looked at him.

"Can we... fly some more?" she asked embarrassed, as if this was a stupid question. In response, he just grinned and they fell downwards, speeding right above the buildings and spinning in circles before free falling for a few seconds. At first Lyla seemed the same as before, almost burying herself in his chest, but she slowly began to crawl out of her shell and was gazing around in wonder, laughing when they free-fell.

Jack was having the time of his life, he hadn't had this much fun in... forever. Sure, he had some pretty awesome snowball fights with Jamie and his friends that dominated every other snow day in his life. But right now, he didn't want this moment to end. He was laughing and smiling like crazy, it was amazing to be with another person and have them actually _see him._

They were nearing the woods, and they swooped down so they were inches away from the lake, and he could see their reflections, and Lyla seemed to notice it too. She was smiling, something that he thought he couldn't even picture on her face. To his surprise, she reached down and trailed her fingers across the icy water.

They flew back up, and bulleted upwards into the night air, going high above the trees. The only thing he saw was the moon glowing brightly onto Lyla's face, before they dived downwards at an incredible speed, while they both yelled in excitement.

Finally, he knew that they would have to stop before Lyla had some serious windburn, and he picked the tallest tree he could find, and landed on the very top. She climbed down out of his arms, and leaned up against the tree truck, her legs shaking. She rubbed her hands together and crossed her arms over her chest, her hair flailing in the wind. He was reminded of how mad she had been when he called her Blondie. He examined her hair more closely, and it really was more brunette than blonde. But it gave off a strange tint in the moonlight, something silvery looking.

"What are you staring at?" she asked him, breaking him out of his trance. She was giving him a weird look, like he was crazy. Was he really staring at her that long?

"Nothing." he said, and then glanced up at her again, a grin on his face.

"Now do you believe me?" he asked, she rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"I'm not telling you."

Jack sighed over-dramatically, and sat down onto the branch across from her.

"You're _so_ stubborn you know. And _I_ know, that _you_ know, that I'm real." he stated, and she slid down the trunk, facing him.

"At least I'm not an arrogantly annoying jerk who abducts girls from their bedrooms." she said, and he smiled.

"Well if you put it _that_ way it sounds bad." he said.

"It sounds bad no matter how you put it!" she protested, and he had to control himself from laughing.

"What?" she asked.

"What yourself." he said, and she rolled her eyes.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"Maybe," he replied, "You're pretty funny when you're upset."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Ugh!" she sighed, glaring at him and then the horizon.

"You're _so_ immature." she said, out of all things she could say.

"I'm three hundred years old," he said, and she whipped her head back around, her eyes wide, "I'm pretty sure I'm more mature than you."

That shut her up. She didn't say anything for a minute.

"You don't act like it." she muttered.

"Well, I saved the world you know." he said, and once again her expression was surprised, but she tried to hide it.

"How?" she asked, trying to conceal her interest. But he just shook his head.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later." he answered, and she nodded. Them he realized that she had agreed to talk to him again.

She believed in him. He was sure of it.

"It's so beautiful." she said, gazing up at the night sky, and they scanning the tiny glimmering lights of Burgess.

"Yeah, it really is," Jack said, watching her very carefully, while the moonlight lit up her face.

"I've never seen anything else like it."


	8. Chapter 8

**14 Followers! Yay! That means that you guys are reading this story, so PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**

**More Fluff! ;)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 8:**

Lyla was drifting in and out of consciousness on the flight back home, she felt exhausted from the day's events and the crazy flying she had just done. But she felt extremely happy for some reason, something that was so complicated that she didn't even bother trying to identify it then, she was so tired.

She was surprised that she hadn't gotten hypothermia, it was below thirty degrees outside, and Jack's arms were freezing, even with his hoodie on. She found herself tracing the snowflake patterns across his torso when she was awake, and then she almost collapsed into his chest when she passed out. Lyla had never been this tired in her entire life, and if she wasn't half-asleep she was sure that she wouldn't be touching him as much, it was stupid. But it was amazing how cold he was, and every time she touched him she started to believe that he was real even more.

Lyla's eyes fluttered open when they landed on her window, and he carried her inside. The heat was intense and she worried that Jack would melt or something along those lines, but he seemed perfectly fine. He carried her over to her bed and gently pried her away from him, laying her down under her sheets.

Exhaustion overwhelmed her, so much that she couldn't panic that a guy was in her bedroom, and putting her to sleep. Under normal circumstances, she probably would have killed him.

She felt cold fingers brush her hair out of her eyes, and she was stopped from falling asleep. They tucked the loose strands behind her ear, and then they lingered there for a moment, before pulling away.

She didn't hear footsteps as Jack walked across the room, grabbed his staff and stood on the window.

Lyla opened her eyes just a crack, and the last thing she saw before finally falling asleep, was Jack Frost smiling at her from her windowsill, and then taking off into the moonlight.

She almost regretted seeing him go.

**Jack:**

Jack flew through the night air, Lyla's warmth still lingering on his skin. He wished it wouldn't go away, human heat was one of the best things ever.

He was so completely out of it that he was almost back at the lake when he remembered something.

"_Jamie_!" he thought, and turned straight back around. He was going to be so worried and upset, and Jack cursed at himself. He should have went to Jamie first.

Jack zipped through the night air, much faster than he had gone with Lyla. It was a lot easier flying by himself. In a few minutes, he had reached Jamie's house, and flew up to the window.

Sure enough, Jamie Bennett hadn't slept a wink in the past four hours since his bedtime, and was sitting upright on his bed, holding his stuffed rabbit close to his chest. Jack knew that face, and he knew that Jamie was terrified.

Jack tapped on the window, and Jamie flinched, before whipping his head around towards the glass. The younger boy sighed with relief when he saw him, and Jack opened the window, stepping inside.

"Jack! You're okay! Where were you! I didn't know where you were and I was so scared-"

"Jamie." he said, but he wasn't done.

"-and I thought that maybe Pitch had gotten you or there was an emergency-"

"What?" Jack asked, surprised,"Where'd you get that idea? Jamie, Pitch's gone. You won't have to worry about him ever again. We saw him leave." Jack said. He didn't want Jamie worrying about Pitch, there wasn't any point. The Nightmare King wouldn't be back for a long, long time.

Jamie nodded, and Jack ruffled his hair, grinning. He needed to cheer up the kid.

"Guess where I was today?" he asked, and Jamie perked up, his curiosity sparking.

"Where?" he asked.

"I was with your cousin, and we went flying." he said, and Jamie's eyes widened.

"You went flying with _Lyla_? I didn't even know you could do that!" he exclaimed.

"Well I didn't know it either," he admitted, and then grinned," But you should have seen her face when she fell out the window."

Jaime laughed, and then covered his mouth, worried that someone might hear him.

"Come on, you have school tomorrow." he said, and Jamie groaned.

"Why can't you just make us have another snow day!" the younger boy complained.

"It would be really fun, we could have snowball fights all day!" he exclaimed, his idea building. Jack laughed, if Jamie had told him this a year ago he would have agreed instantly, but he had gotten a little bit more mature since then.

"Sorry Jamie," he said, and the younger boy's face fell, "But I'll tell you what. It's almost the weekend, and we can have snowball fights all Saturday and Sunday, alright?"

Jamie grinned, and landed on his bed.

"Yeah! It'll be awesome!" he said, and Jack pulled the covers up to Jamie's nose, causing the younger boy to giggle.

"Come on, you have to go to bed!" Jack laughed, and Jamie finally gave in.

"Okay. Night Jack." he said.

"Night Jamie," he said, and the younger boy drifted away to the Sandman's dreams almost instantly. Jack grabbed his staff, and flew out into the night air.

He headed straight towards the lake, flew over it, and landed at the top of the tree that he had been sitting on with Lyla earlier that night. He laid on the branch, sticking his legs off the sides and leaning up against the trunk.

He felt like he had been hit by a truck, all of the undeciferable emotions swimming in his head. He didn't want to leave Burgess and freeze any other cities at the moment, so he might as well sleep to pass the time.

Jack didn't need to sleep, not really. He could if he wanted too, and it gave him more energy, helped him think clearer. He closed his eyes, and slowly fell asleep.

Drifting into a nightmare.


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter might be kinda boring for some people. Sorry. But I put this chapter here for a reason.**

**19 Followers! Yay! Hopefully we'll have at least 20 by chapter 10!**

**Please Review!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 9:**

Lyla smiled as she felt soft fingers caress her cheek, and she felt a warm feeling bubble up inside of her chest. She reached out to grab them, press them against her face, never wanting them to separate from her skin.

But when she touched the side of her face, she couldn't find anything to hold onto. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw a warm bright light shining through her window.

Suddenly a horrid hole was wedged inside of her chest, and she didn't want to move. Had it all been a dream? Had she really never flown? Were all of those spectacular emotions just another fantasy?

More importantly, was _he_ a dream too?

She glanced across her bedroom, searching for a sign that he had really existed, and then she sighed with relief. Her window was still open, and covered in water that dripped onto her carpet. She climbed out of bed and carefully walked over to it. The daylight had melted it away, but it had still be there.

There had been _snow_ inside her bedroom.

"Beep!" she jumped as her alarm went off, and when the idea of going back to school processed through her brain, a wave of exhaustion hit her. The last thing she needed after yesterday was school.

Lyla took one last glance at the droplets covering her window, and then started to get ready, hopping into the shower and washing all of the dirt and tree bark out of her hair and off her body. She quickly got dressed, pulling on some dark-wash skinny jeans and a navy blue t-shirt, pulling a jean jacket on over it. She zipped up her favorite tan winter boots, and brushed her hair for about ten minutes, trying to get the part just right.

When Lyla looked in mirror, she felt something she had never felt before. She felt an urge to wear _makeup_.

"_Something must be wrong with me_." she thought as she put on the thinnest layer of her Mom's pink lipstick and a little bit of mascara. When she was done, the difference was astonishing, and she wasn't sure if she could handle it. She just looked... prettier.

Since when did she care about how she looked?

Lyla grabbed her backpack and ran downstairs, finding her Mom at the counter, a plate of fried eggs and toast resting on the counter. She slid into a seat, taking a huge bite.

"Hey Mom." she said, and her Mom jumped, spinning back around.

"Lyla! I didn't think you'd be down here this early." Mom said, smiling at her.

"Yeah well, I think I'll walk to school today." she said, an idea forming in her mind. Her Mom gave her a puzzled expression.

"Really? Who made you do that? Alex?" she asked, pushing her red rimmed glades up higher on her nose. Her Mom looked a lot like Lyla herself, with almost identical hair and facial builds, but her Mom had the same shade of eyes as Aunt Carol and Jamie, while Lyla had turquoise irises. Her Mom always said that her eyes made her special.

"Are you wearing _lipstick_?" her mother asked suddenly, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Uh..." she stuttered, and then glanced at the clock.

"Gotta go Mom! Bye!" she replied quickly, giving her a tight hug before racing out the door, leaving her mother standing in the kitchen looking very confused.

Lyla ran down the street for a few blocks, before slowing to a walk. Her lungs stung from panting in the cold air, and she glanced around wildly, some desperate part of her hoping that Jack would magically appear.

But she kept on walking, keeping her eyes peeled. She felt stupid, acting like this, but she couldn't help but hope that he really did exist.

After treading cautiously over a dozen blocks of frozen sidewalks, she reached the HighSchool building. A crowd of other kids were standing outside as the buses passed, emptying teenagers onto the stone steps.

"Lyla!" a voice called out, and she whipped her head around to find Alex running up to her, almost breathless.

"Hey." she replied lamely, trying to control her disappointment. Why did she want to see Jack so badly?

"Hey," her friend said, and Alex's eyes widened, "Oh my gosh, you're wearing mascara!" she exclaimed.

"Shssh!" Lyla said, the last thing she wanted was anyone to notice.

"And you did your hair!" she continued, acting like a little kid at Christmas. Suddenly Alex's mouth opened wide in surprise.

"Oh. My. God. You met a _guy_!" Alex almost screamed, causing the people around them to give her weird looks.

"What?" Lyla said, totally not expecting that.

"I can tell! Is he cute?" Alex asked.

"What? _No_, How-"

"Oh my gosh he must be really hot!" Alex exclaimed, and she still had no idea how Alex was coming up with this stuff.

"He's not very hot." Lyla answered, and then regretted it. What had caused her to say that?

"_You just admitted aloud that you like Jack, your imaginary fantasy that isn't real_." she thought, and covered her face, sighing.

"Of course he is! You should see your face! You look like you've seen an angel!" Alex exclaimed, and for some reason Lyla started blushing like crazy.

"You're blushing!" her friend teased, and she shoved her just as the bell rang, and a mob of kids rushed into the building.

"Come on!" Alex exclaimed, grabbing her arm and dragging her inside, while she rolled her eyes. She really didn't want to talk about guys with Alex later, which her best friend would do everything to make sure that the conversation took place. Besides, how could she explain it to Alex when she wasn't sure about anything herself?

Lyla was smushed inside a crowded room of sweaty teenagers and was carted through the maze by Alex for a few frustrating minutes until they finally reached thier lockers, which were conveniently located next to each other. Lyle gasped for breath and slowly began to unpack her stuff and shove it into her locker, trying to seem busy so Alex wouldn't attempt anything right now.

She needed time to think.

**Jack:**

He felt like crap. His eyes were red and bloodshot, and he looked like he had fallen out of the sky.

Well, he _had_ fallen out of a tree. So that was pretty close.

Jack had slept restlessly all night, strange nightmares clouding his vision for hours, and somehow he couldn't make them stop. The dreams didn't even make sense, they were only patches of pictures floating up into his consciousness, and most of them were grotesque versions if the people ge cared about dying. But it didn't matter. They were nightmares, he knew that much.

Nightmares could only mean one thing.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10! Yay!**

**This is not my best chapter, but the next one will be better!**

**More Fluff! Kinda. : /**

* * *

**CHAPTER 10:**

After three periods, Lyla was beginning to feel depressed. And anxious. And worried. And then once lunch came around she was almost certain that she had been hallucinating.

She pushed through the crowds of people and barely made it to her locker. She dug through her stuff in the metal casket and finally grabbed her money, and then sighed. She glanced in the mirror, looking at her smudged makeup, and the drooping purple arches under her eyes. She had almost fallen asleep during last period, and she wondered how she could be so tired if yesterday was all a hallucination. Maybe being crazy was tiring? She didn't know.

Suddenly she spotted something in the corner of the mirror, and she gasped. She turned around and her eyes widened.

**Jack:**

He stood outside the brick building, pacing back and forth. He wanted to go inside, he felt like he had too. After those nightmares... Jack felt like he needed some assurance that she hadn't actually fallen out of the sky or gotten hit by a truck.

He needed to make sure. The parts of his nightmares that had Lyla in them were the worst, and he had to make sure she was safe.

"You're being paranoid." he said to himself, and of course no one heard him. He turned around and faced the building, and sighed, running his hand through his hair. There were so many people... So many people who could walk straight through him...

Finally, he forced himself to fly up towards the door, and walk inside the building for the very first time.

* * *

At first he thought he was going to be fine, until he realized that there wasn't any wind. Which meant he couldn't fly.

He just walked around, taking it all in. For once Jack was glad he wasn't normal and didn't have to go to school, it looked horribly boring. Everything was dull and gray, and all of the lockers reminded him of prison cells.

Then the stupid bell rang, and before he could think someone had already walked straight through him.

Jack felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest, and almost doubled over onto the floor, but managed to pull himself up and run across the floor, as more and more people stepped through him.

Eventually all the people faded, and the hallway was empty, and he pressed his back up against the wall, hiding in the corner next to a locker just incase more people came.

Why had he come in this madhouse in the first place anyway?

Then Jack got his answer.

Lyla was standing at the locker directly across from him, not moving, but just standing there. He felt full of relief, and realized just how much he had been freaking out about the nightmares. They were just bad dreams, but he was still worried about her.

Jack was leaning on his staff, and watched her while she looked in the mirror. She looked a lot better than him, even though her face looked like she hadn't slept for a year.

Just looking at her made him feel better, and all of a sudden he started to have that melting sensation all over again.

"_She looks pretty in blue_." a voice inside him spoke, and before he could stop himself he had a stupid smile on his face.

Suddenly she turned around and stared directly at him, and her eyes had the sharpness of someone who could see him, and he almost fell over onto the floor again.

"_What is your problem Jack?_" he asked himself, willing himself to stop grinning like he was drunk.

Lyla looked awfully surprised to see him, and once again he wondered how she could see him even though she didn't believe.

Jack realized that they had been staring at each other for a really long time only when some girl ran up to Lyla and started talking to her, asking her what she was staring at.

"Um, nothing?" she replied, still watching him.

"Well that's nice." he said, and of course she was the only one who heard him.

"Oh my gosh are you thinking about the guy that you like again?" the other girl exclaimed, the one with purple hair.

For once Jack didn't talk, couldn't talk. He just felt like something had clicked into place, and he smiled.

* * *

**OMG this is like the worst chapter in this entire story so far, so please forgive me! Please Review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Please Please PLEASE REVIEW! Tell me what I need to fix and work on to make this story better! PLEASE!**

**(Lol I'm so desperate!)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 11:**

Lyla watched as Jack started grinning with satisfaction and she glared at him, clenching her fists. Her face heated up with embarrassment, and she gave Alex a dirty look.

"I am most definitely, positively not thinking or daydreaming about any guy on the planet!" she said, and stormed off towards the cafeteria. Instantly she felt bad for blowing up in front of Alex, but she wasn't about to turn around and apologize.

Unfortunately, her best-friend didn't get the memo about Lyla being pissed off, and ran up next to her.

"Sorry, I should have listened better." she said, giving her a small smile. Lyla felt freakishly guilty for yelling at Alex, she always took advantage of her friend.

"No, that was my fault." she said, and suddenly she tensed up as she felt chills roll down her spine. Jack walked up to get, standing on her other side, still grinning.

"Sure was. I can see why Jamie complains about you so much, you're mean to everybody." he said, and she glared at him.

"Seriously Lyla, what are your scowling at?" Alex asked, and Jack began walking backwards in front of her.

"You should just tell her about me. Apparently she really wants to know." he said, and Lyla gave him her dirtiest look.

"Shut up!"

"What?" Alex asked.

"Not you!" Lyla replied, and face palmed.

"Well who are you talking to?" her friend asked, putting her hands on her hips. Lyla sighed.

"Nobody. Come on." she answered, and grabbed her friends wrist and dragged get into the cafeteria.

Alex sat down at a table in the corner, and Lyla muttered swear words under her breath as her annoying hallucination walked up behind her, desperately trying to avoid coming in contact with any people.

"Hey! Wait up!" he said.

"Not gonna happen!" she called over her shoulder, granting her some weird looks from other kids.

Lyla roughly grabbed some food and whipped her head around to find Jack. He grabbed her shoulders and held her still, staring at her eyes intently, searching through them.

"Why do you hate me so much?" he asked finally. He sounded like he really did care, with a little bit of hurt etched in his voice. Did he care about what she thought of him?

"Because your an annoying invisible stalker who won't leave me alone!" she exclaimed, trying to pull away.

"I am _not_ a stalker." he stated, and she rolled her eyes.

"You went to my house and snuck up on me at school." she stated, and he rolled his eyes, letting go of her and running his fingers through his hair.

"I came to school cause I was _worried_ about you!" he said, sounding incredibly frustrated. Lyla stopped, not sure what to think of this. Did he really just say that?

Jack seemed to realize what he had just admitted, and tried to cover it up.

"I'm pretty sure Jamie would kill me if you got... hurt. And besides, you almost killed yourself twice yesterday." he said, smiling.

"I mean, that has to be a new record." he stated, and she found all of her anger draining out of her body.

"Sure. Whatever." she said, and pushed past him, heading over to the table where Alex was sitting. Jack followed her, dodging people as much as he could. She wondered why he was doing that, couldn't they just walk through him?

"Why are you avoiding human contact so much?" she asked him once he caught up. Jack looked shocked at this question.

"Because they will go right through me." he said, and she blinked.

"And it _hurts_." he continued.

"Really?" she said, and he looked away.

"Yeah."

"Oh. I didn't think about that." she said, feeling sorry for him.

"It's fine." he said, returning his gaze to her face, and he was smiling again.

"You should be thinking about how you are going to explain your '_crush_'," he put emphasis on that word, "to your friend."

"I do not-!"

"Lyla! What's taking you so long!" Alex yelled, and Jack made a face at her, as if to say, "I told you so."

Lyla sat down next to Alex and prayed with all her might that Jack would disappear.

No such luck.

"Can I have your sandwich or am I gonna have to steal it?" he asked, and she glared at him as he sat directly across from her.

"What? You have to eat?" she asked.

"Of course I have to eat. Well, every once in a while. And right now I'm bored as hell. I don't know how you can stand this place." Jack said.

Lyla knew what he was taking about. School felt like a prison, and to a guy who could fly, it was probably more like a cage.

"You can leave you know. You don't have to stay here." she said, and he laughed.

"I'm not that easy to get rid of, but good try." he said.

"Lyla, who the hell are you talking too!" Alex said, and Jack laughed.

"No one!" Lyla replied, and covered his face. This entire invisible guy thing war getting really stressful.

"Love must have drove you insane. You need to see a doctor." Alex muttered, and Jack burst out laughing. Lyla glared at him.

"Seriously, cut it out!" Lyla complained.

"What am I doing wrong?" Alex shouted.

"Nothing! I told you, I'm not talking to you!" Lyla yelled, and Alex rose to her feet.

"You're crazy," she said, and turned to walk away, just when her eyes widened in shock.

"Lyla, why is it snowing?" Alex asked slowly, and Lyla whipped her head around towards Jack, who smiled at her.

"Lyla, _who the hell is that?!_" Alex cried, and Lyla found her friend staring directly at Jack.

"Uh... Alex, that's Jack Frost."


	12. Chapter 12

**In this chapter there's gonna be a ton more Fluff!**

**Also, more cute family stuff! :)**

**erikajazminhk-20: Thank you for reviewing! And I have an idea that is very triangular... Might use it soon. I love triangles, I use them all the time! They are spectacularly fun!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 12:**

"Lyla! I'm so glad that you could come over, I really appreciate it." Aunt Carol said as she walked into the door.

"It's fine, I like watching Jamie and Sophie." she said, as her Aunt scrambled around the room, searching for her purse.

"Aha!" she cried, holding up a maroon handbag.

"See you in a few hours!" Aunt Carol said, kissing her on the cheek before running out the door.

Lyla sighed. She knew that her Aunt was stressed with working overtime, the least she could do was babysit. Even though her cousins would be fine on their own without her. Jamie would just take off, and Sophie would... probably find some way to seriously injure herself.

"_Yeah, scratch that idea_." she thought, dropping her backpack onto the couch. She headed towards the staircase, and sure enough she could hear laughing coming from upstairs.

"Jamie!" she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. Seconds later her cousins head popped out from the side of his door, grinning mischievously.

"Yeah?"

"If it's snowing in your room I'm gonna kill you." she said. Suddenly Sophie's head appeared next to Jamie's.

"Snow!" she exclaimed, and then she heard familiar, _annoyingly_ familiar, laughing coming from inside Jamie's room.

"_Oh my God. Great_." she thought sarcastically, as Jack's head revealed itself next to her two cousins.

"_So_... What if it had already snowed in Jamie's room, but isn't _snowing_ right now?" he asked, causing the two younger kids to crack up with laughter.

Lyla sighed. Whenever she was around Jack, she wished she had never met him in the first place. When he was gone... that was a totally different story.

Take right now for instance, when she knew that she would have to somehow mop up all of the melted snow in Jamie's room before her Aunt Carol showed up.

"Cookies!" Sophie screamed, and ran down the stairs, with Jamie quickly following after. Lyla sighed, and Jack came up behind her, nearly scaring her to death. He was really good at the whole invisible thing.

"You're not that bad with kids." he said, walking past her and stealing some off of the counter.

"I'm horrible with them. And those aren't for you." she replied, trying to take it away from him.

"Why not?" he asked teasingly.

"Because." she said, and finally snatched it from his fingers.

"Besides, they're hot. Won't you like, melt or something?" she said, and he rolled his eyes.

"Jack doesn't melt, _duh_." Jamie said, shoving another cookie into his mouth, before running into the living room, chasing after Sophie.

"Yeah, duh." Jack said, copying Jamie.

Lyla sighed, sitting down across from him. She was still having trouble accepting that he was real, but she believed in him. She just wasn't sure if she could handle it.

"So... How's your friend doing?" Jack asked, breaking through the awkward silence.

"Not so good. She stayed home today, she thinks that she's sick." Lyla sighed, resting her head in her hands. After Alex had somehow started to believe in Jack, probably because she saw it snow, she caught about fifteen minutes of sight, before fainting.

Lyla was selfishly glad about this, since Alex saw him too, along with her cousins, it meant that he was real, and he really did exist. She also didn't exactly want him to have any other teenage girls to talk too.

"Well, not everyone's special, you know." Jack said, and to her surprise he brushed the hair out of her eyes, tucking the strands behind her ear. His fingers really were soft, and the coldness felt refreshing. He smiled at her and pulled his hand away, resting his face in his palm exactly like she was. Lyla tried to control her face from lighting up with joy.

"Yeah, and I'm special? Doubt it." she replied, blushing a ton.

"Sure you are. You could see me before you started believing, and didn't have a heart attack or something like Alex did." he said, staring at her with his outrageously gorgeous eyes-

"_Stop it! Backpedal! Do NOT go down that road!_" she thought, but she was still smiling like she was drunk.

"She's just not used to seeing anything like..." Lyla said, her voice trailing off. Like what? An angel? Yeah, she was _totally_ going to tell him that. He was already full of himself enough.

"Like imaginary Fairytale characters?" he finished for her, and she felt guilty.

"Yeah." she said, not looking at him.

"Look, I'm sorry that I didn't believe in you right away, it's just that..." she began but he cut her off.

"I know. It doesn't matter. You believe in me now." he said.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I can tell." he answered, a mischievous grin on his face.

Suddenly Jamie ran inside with Sophie, yelling.

"I lost a tooth!" he shouted, jumping up and down in excitement. Jack grinned, standing up to see him.

"Wow Jamie! Can I see it?" he asked, and Jamie showed it too him excitedly, blood dripping out of her cousins mouth. Lyla grimaced, and ran over to the sink, grabbing a washcloth and then returning, practically shoving it into Jamie's mouth.

"Funny!" Sophie exclaimed, laughing at her brother.

"Doesh thish mean I get to see the toothsh fairy?" Jamie asked, the rag still in his mouth. Jack laughed.

"Of course it does. Now that Tooth's back in the field, I'll ask her to come here, just for you." Jack said.

"What?" Lyla asked, and he rolled his eyes.

"_Please_ don't tell me you don't believe in the tooth fairy." he said, gazing up at the ceiling.

"Wait, are you trying to tell me that the Tooth Fairy is real?" she asked, and Jamie spit the washcloth out of his mouth.

"Of course Tooth is real! She's a Guardian, just like Jack!" Jamie said, as if this was common knowledge and was outrageous that she didn't know.

"Uh.. What's a Guardian?" she asked, seriously confused. Jack face palmed and Jamie gawked at her.

"You didn't tell her anything." he said, and Jack smiled at her cousin.

"How about you explain it to her, alright?"

**Jack:**

This was the longest he had ever spent stuck inside a house, it had been hours since he got to Jamie's, yet he didn't want to leave. He felt as close as he had ever imagined to be with all three of them, almost like a... family.

"Yeah, and then there's the Sandman! And he's all yellow and can fly, like this!" Jamie said, jumping off of the couch and landing in a pile of pillows.

"And so he does _what_?" Lyla asked.

"He makes you fall asleep and dream and stuff!" Jamie continued, and Sophie sat on top of the pillows, listening to her older brother intently.

"So... like everyone's dreams? All of them?" Lyla asked, mystified. Jack watched her as she listened, and he could tell she was trying hard to believe everything, and having difficulty doing so.

But she was trying. That was what counted.

"Well, not all of them. Only the good dreams." Jamie explained, and suddenly Jack didn't like where this conversation was going.

"Who controls the bad dreams?" Lyla asked, and Jack grabbed her hand next to him, and squeezed it, trying to get his message across. He gave Jamie a look like, "Don't talk about it."

"The Boogie man does. He's really mean and scary, but Jack got rid of him. Right Jack?" Jamie asked, and all of them turned to look at him.

With perfect timing, Sophie yawned, and he took it as a perfect opportunity.

"Hey look, Sophie's tierd and it's getting late! Come on Soph, let's get you to bed." he said, scooping her up and almost running up the stairs, flashing a reassuring smile and Lyla and Jamie before he left.

Jack didn't want to talk about Pitch. Especially now, when he had been experiencing nightmares for the past three days, ever since he had met Lyla.

Those nightmares had been the worst he could ever imagine, and he had woken up screaming and falling out of whatever he was sleeping on. It had taken him almost an hour to calm down last night, it was really that bad.

He didn't want Jamie thinking about Pitch, worried that somehow Jamie would get nightmares too. Plus, Lyla didn't need to know. He wanted to keep her out of this, she didn't need nightmares and nether did anyone else.

Jack laid Sophie down in her bed and she instantly fell asleep, and he turned the light off, carefully closing the door.

Just then, he could hear Lyla walking back downstairs, and he waved inside Jamie's doorway before following her.

When he reached downstairs, he saw her sitting on the couch, staring at the candles on the table, the wind from outside waving the tiny flames. They had opened most of the windows in the house, since Lyla was still under the impression that he could 'melt'.

Jack walked up next to her, and she still didn't move. He grabbed a blanket and sat down next to her, wrapping it around her shoulders. But she still didn't move.

"Was he trying to kill Jamie?" she asked suddenly, and he almost sighed. Great, Jamie had told her all about Pitch.

"No. He was just trying to scare him." Jack answered, and suddenly she whipped herself around to face him.

"So who was he trying to kill? You? Everyone else? Do things like that really exist?" she asked, and he could see worry in her glowing turquoise eyes.

"_She's scared for you_." he thought, and sure enough fear welled up in her eyes.

Without even thinking, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him, and she didn't pull away.

Jack felt his hands slide up to the space in between her shoulder blades, which were extremely tense. She nuzzled her face into his neck and he closed his eyes, and began to question her theory about him being able to melt.

"Don't worry about it, okay? Nothing bad will ever happen to you or Jamie or Sophie, okay? Besides, Pitch's gone. He won't come back for hundreds of years." Jack said.

"But...You'll still be there right. The myth about you is ancient, so... You must be immortal." she said.

"Kinda." he said.

"How old are you?" she asked, her voice showing that she needed an answer.

"I'm seventeen-ish. Well, I look seventeen." he said, and then sighed.

"Fine. I'm 300." he said, and Lyla didn't say anything for a long time.

"You're going to be around a lot longer than me." she whispered.

"It doesn't matter." he replied.

"You're not going to look any older. In a few years I'm gonna be old and-"

"Shssh. I don't care." he said, and finally opened his eyes. He felt steaming wet tears fall onto his neck and he held her tightly.

"I'm not gonna leave you, not ever." he said, but she was already asleep.

Jack laid her down onto the couch, and she wouldn't let go of him so he just laid down next to her. While he watched her sleep he felt depressed and whole and empty all at the same time.

Finally, he managed to fall asleep, and that was when he started crying.

* * *

**Sad! You need to think a little more before you love somebody Jack!**

**0_o Did I just say that? Spoilerish me for the people who haven't figured that out on their own yet!**

**The interesting stuff is going to start, in like, the next chapter.**

**But what is even more depressing is how I have NO REVIEWS! ALMOST NONE! PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Sorry that I'm being such a jerk about reviewing.**


	13. Chapter 13

**MORE FLUFF! 3**

**Also, how many of you thought that this was going to be a sweet romance Fic? All of you raise your hands!**

**Yeah...no. It gets worse from here on out. It has Angst in the Genre for a reason. We haven't even gotten started yet.**

**Also, I know that SOME people have been reviewing more than others, so I apologize to those who do review a lot or at least a little.**

**But for those of you who haven't reviewed, PLEASE DO! Thanks!**

**I would also like to add the fact that I got some nice reviews yesterday, that made my day! So thank you!**

**WARNING: Disturbing Imagery, Blood, Creepy stalker stuff?**

**(I'm new to the whole warning thing. Sorry)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 13:**

"Well, would you just _look_ at _that_." he laughed, stepping out of the shadows. He watched the children with a wicked smile on his face. Golden dream sand floated around their heads and he chuckled softly to himself.

"Isn't this _adorable_?" he asked his favorite nightmare, which had shrunk from his loss of power but still held quite a large amount of fear. It flew around the children's heads, making quite a bit of noise. But Pitch knew they wouldn't wake up.

Even if they did, all he would have to do was press his finger on the center of their forehead, and they would pass out into an extremely long, nightmare filled sleep.

The golden sand formed swirling images of snowflakes and snowballs and countless pictures of the two children together.

"Who's your little friend, Jack?" Pitch asked, laughing.

"She's very pretty." he said, twirling a strand on the girl's hair in his fingers.

"Such a shame we can't take her with us, I'm sure you would _love_ that." he said, running his fingers across the boy's face.

Pitch's nightmare was becoming restless, and he finally set it loose, and the creature consumed the golden sand, turning it charcoal black.

Pitch watched with satisfaction as Jack Frost's features became twisted with fear as the black sand swirled around his head. The boy started squirming in his sleep and Pitch dug his fingers into Jack's cheek, watching as tiny drops of blood fell and slid down his face.

Jack grimaced in pain, and Pitch finally released him. The boy's head fell back onto the couch that he was sleeping on, and his face was still twisted in pain.

Pitch grinned as a wave of fear rolled through him, as the intensity of Jack's fear powered him.

Pitch reluctantly returned to the shadows, and his maniacal laughing echoed off the walls.

"See you soon Frost." he said. It was such a shame.

He had wanted to hear him scream _so_ badly.

**Jack:**

He jolted upright, screaming his lungs out. Jack glanced around the room wildly, but he couldn't seem to focus on anything. He was pouring out buckets of sweat, and he panted heavily.

Finally Jack could see straight, and there was no sign of Pitch.

"_It was just a dream Jack. Calm down. You're alright_." he reassured himself.

Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his face and he reached up towards it. When he pulled his fingers away, he could see freshly drawn blood on his hands.

_His_ blood.

Jack swallowed down a scream, and wiped the blood off his hands. He took several deep breaths before finally calming down.

It was just a nightmare right? Just a bad dream? So how was he bleeding?

Jack looked down at Lyla, who was still sleeping next to him. She was perfectly unscathed, and it didn't appear that Pitch had gone anywhere near her.

But in his dream he had. He had actually _touched_ her, even though Jack was almost positive that she didn't believe in him enough for contact.

Then Pitch had said something about _taking_ Lyla. What was he talking about? If he did anything to her Jack was going to-

His anger was interrupted by Lyla, who was still asleep, but was reaching her fingers out towards him, grabbing his hand.

Jack laid back down next to her, and she pressed her hands up to his chest. A little but of warmth flowed through them, but not as much as usual. He wondered how cold she much be, he had been next to her for who knows how long, and she had to be freezing.

But she was smiling in her sleep, and apparently didn't care if she had hypothermia or not. And she was trying to get closer to him. He just stared at her, she was just... amazing.

"Jack?" she whispered.

"Yeah?" he asked, and she moved closer to him, resting her head on his arm.

"I...love...you." she said, and he wasn't sure if he had heard her right. Had she really... Did she say...

"_She's still asleep. She could just be dreaming._" he thought.

"_Yeah, dreaming about you apparently_." a voice inside his head spoke.

Jack wrapped his other arm around her and sighed.

"Love you too Lyla."

Then he fell back asleep.

* * *

**Please Review! Thanks!**

**Sorry if my first half was bad, I wrote it late at night.**

***In case no one noticed, I think I made my characters slightly OC ish. Mostly Pitch, he's a little more whacked up.**


	14. Chapter 14

**27 FOLLOWERS! OMG! Hopefully 30 by the next chapter! Yay!**

**For the note at the end of the last chapter, I meant OOC, not OC. Sorry!**

**And thanks for the reviews! I LOVE REVIEWS!**

**This chapter is kinda short, but the next one is longer. And it's from Tooth's pony of view!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 14:**

Tooth speeded through the air, and landed swiftly on the windowsill of Jamie Bennett. He was her last stop for tonight, before heading back to her Tooth Palace and working all day until she went back out into the field again.

She sighed and fluttered inside, snatching the tooth from under Jamie's pillow. The minute she touched it a flash of images passed through her mind, giving her knowledge.

Jamie had lost his tooth from crashing into the snow, after getting knocked over by a mob of snowballs thrown by his friends.

Tooth opened her eyes, and was instantly surprised. Her first thought would be that Jack would have been in the snow with Jamie, he was the main cause of most of Jamie's lost teeth. Plus, she knew that Jack spent most of his time with Jamie, he was very attached to him.

So... If Jack wasn't with Jamie, _where was he_?

Suddenly Tooth turned around, and glanced outside. Her eyes widened, and she stared in awe at what was lighting up the night sky.

She had a terrible feeling in her stomach, the last time that had happened...

Somehow, she knew that it had to be about Jack.

Tooth doubted that he would see what was going on, he was most likely asleep, since he didn't have to do anything at all during the night time. Jack didn't work all year round, unlike herself and Sandy,

"_Maybe you should check the house. Then go to the woods. If you don't find him..._" she brushed the thought away and flew quickly through the other rooms on the upstairs of Jamie's house, stopping quickly to watch Sophie, the adorable younger girl that Tooth absolutely adored. Then she fluttered downstairs, only to find Jack right away, stopping her cold.

Tooth noticed several things instantly.

1.) That he looked _extremely cute_ when he was sleeping.

2.) That his mouth was closed so she couldn't see his beautiful teeth.

3.) That the Bennett's had an freakishly large couch.

4.) Jack's face was bleeding a lot, with a bunch of cuts covering his face.

5.) That he was sleeping with a _human teenage girl_.

Of course, she didn't realize everything in that particular order.

"**_Jack_**!"

He jolted in his sleep, her loud voice waking him up. He rubbed the back of his head and looked around dazed, before finally resting on her.

"What are you _doing_!" she yelled, and he glanced down at the girl, an alarmed expression on his face.

"Sleeping. That's _it_. I wasn't-"

"What happened to your _face_?!" she asked, flying over to him.

"Uh, nothing." he replied, trying to give her the innocent blue eyes trick.

Nope, not today.

"Jack, you have no idea what you are doing! Don't you realize-!" she started, but he shushed her.

"Shsh! You'll wake her up!" he said, and she put her hands on her hips.

"Jack Frost, you better listen to me _right now_-"

"What's that?" he asked, untangling himself from the girl's arms and grabbing his staff, running over the window.

"Those are the northern lights." she sighed. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered.

"Well I know that, but why are they all the way down here?" he asked, pressing his hands on the glass.

"Jack, it means we have to get to the North Pole, like, now." she explained, flying over to him.

"Why?" he asked, looking at her.

"Something's wrong Jack, very wrong."

* * *

**SUSPENSE!**

***I saw some really good ROTG videos on YouTube, I suggest checking them out. I usually listen to them to help me write**.


	15. Chapter 15

**SunGirl12: They were JUST SLEEPING!**

**molly-marie-kat-death: Yes, I am aware of what tier 15 is, and Tooth might have thought that's what they were doing too.**

**When I look at my Stats, my heart explodes! Thanks for reading guys!**

**Please Read&Review!**

**WARNING: Blood**

* * *

**CHAPTER 15:**

Tooth wouldn't talk to him through the entire flight to the pole, and was uncharacteristically silent. He wondered why she was so upset, and after thinking about it he concluded that it had to be that she was just worried about the Northern Lights and what they could mean.

"_I mean, what else would she freak out about_?" Jack thought.

Jack kept on thinking about Lyla, and he hoped that she was okay. He didn't want her to worry if he wasn't there when she woke up, which he knew would happen. He also really didn't want her to get mad, because when she did...it got ugly.

Jack was having trouble keeping up with Tooth, he was still groggy since it was about three o'clock in the morning, and he wasn't used to being awake this early. Plus, the nightmare hadn't helped at all. He was still confused about it... was it just a dream or...

Jack couldn't think about it, and he really didn't want too. It was probably just a bad dream, but the fact that he had a bunch of small red scabs covering his cheek made him consider it a little more.

Finally they reached the North Pole, and all he wanted to do was go back to sleep, and have a good dream for once. Maybe if Sandy was here he would let him-

"Jack!" Tooth yelled, and suddenly he felt her arms wrap around him while his vision hit the floor. Everything started to spin and he couldn't find the strength to stand. He leaned back onto Tooth and she almost fell over, but managed to stop him from smashing into the ground.

"Jack! Jack! Wake up! Jack!" Tooth yelled, and he could see a glimpse of her glowing purple eyes before he started feeling sick.

"What's wrong Jack? Jack?!"

"Head hurts." he muttered before everything started fading to black.

**Tooth:**

Instantly she regretted shunning him, even if it only was for about an hour, if she had been paying more attention she would have realized that something was wrong with him. But he had been sleeping with a teenage girl...

Jack's head tilted back and she could see that the cuts on his face were opening up again, and her eyes widened when she realized that they were growing longer. Each of them was about an inch in length, and she wondered where on earth he had gotten them.

Tooth didn't have time to find out.

She half-carried, half-dragged him inside the building, almost knocking down the door. When she stepped inside, everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and state at her. North, Bunnymund, and Sandy remained unmoving, along with all the Yeti's.

"Well don't just stand there, and help me!" she shouted in frustration.

All three of them ran over to her, concerned expressions on their faces.

"Tooth, what happened?" North asked her, and she shook her head.

"I don't know! He was fine a moment ago." she replied.

"Whoa, what's wrong with his face mate? It looks like he was attacked by a bloody animal." Bunnymund asked, and then laughed.

"Maybe some kid finally had enough of getting snow shoved in their face..." his voice trailed off as they all glared at him.

"Lyla..." they all stared at Jack as he started talking.

"Uh...what'd he say?" Bunny asked, and Sandy just made a question mark above his head.

"Who cares! Just figure out what's wrong with him and fix it!" she yelled, and once again they all gawked at her. Apparently they had forgotten that she had a loud and demanding side.

"Looks like he's asleep..." North said, and Tooth turned to Sandy.

"Sandy! Can you do anything?" she asked, and he made signs that appeared to say: "_I'll try_."

Sandy walked over to Jack, and pressed his thumb in the center of his forehead, while Tooth fluttered nervously overhead.

Suddenly a burst of golden sand swirled around his head, and to her horror black sand came out, falling to the floor before vanishing from sight.

"Lyla..."

Tooth covered her mouth, and she tried to contain her emotions.

"Was that, what I think it was?" Bunny asked, and Sandy turned around, and nodded.

"Oh my god." Tooth breathed, and North just stood there, his expression turning grim.

"Lyla..." Jack said again.

"Who is he bloody taking about?" Bunny asked, and Sandy made another question mark.

Suddenly just as Tooth thought of something, the sand floating above Jack's head started to take shape, and she gasped as she saw the girl that he was sleeping next to on the couch.

"Who is _that_?" North questioned, and Tooth shook her head.

"A girl, and I think her name's Lyla."

"Are you saying..." North asked, his eyes wide, and Tooth nodded.

Jack was in love with a human.


	16. Chapter 16

***BTW, I think that Jamie and Sophie are freaking adorable, and I would love it of they were my cousins!**

**CHALLENGE: Find the song mentioned in this chapter!**

**WARNING: Blood**

* * *

**CHAPTER 16:**

When Lyla woke up, she had a serious case of deshavu. There was an aching hole in her chest and her eyes flew open.

She was still on her cousin's couch, tangled up in a blanket, and everything was normal.

_Exactly_.

She sat up, and looked around the room. Everything was the same as yesterday except for one thing.

Jack wasn't there.

Once again she was afraid that he wasn't real, that he was just a dream, but then she shoved the thought away. Nothing had ever felt more real to her than him.

She spotted something out of the corner of her eye, and glanced at the couch cousin next to her. It had several splatters of red liquid coating it, and her heart jumped to her throat.

It was _blood_.

"_He couldn't be bleeding, could he_?" she thought, and glanced closer at it. It looked like it had...patterns in it.

"_It looks like red frost._" she thought, and then almost threw up. He was real, and he wasn't here, and he was bleeding. She didn't think it could get worse than that.

"Morning Lyla!" she whipped her head around and saw her Aunt Carol smiling at her, wearing a bathrobe and holding a newspaper.

"Hey." Lyla replied, and her Aunt frowned.

"What's wrong honey?" she asked, walking over to the kitchen and pouring some coffee.

"Nothing, just...does my Mom know I'm Still Here?" she asked, coming up with an excuse. Besides, she really was worried about that too. Lyla was supposed to come home that night, but she had gotten... _distracted_.

"Yes, I called her and told her last night when I got home. Don't worry." she said with a reassuring smile, and Lyla sighed nervously. Well, that was one problem taken care of.

"Mom! The Tooth Fairy came last night!" Jamie exclaimed as he bounded down the stairs, carrying a quarter. Sophie followed him, laughing.

Aunt Carol smiled and took the quarter from his hands, oohhing and awwing over it.

"Wow Jamie! Did you see her?" Aunt Carol asked, and Jamie shook his head.

"Nope, I think I fell asleep. I've seen her already though, but I really wanted to say hi!" he said, and Aunt Carol laughed.

"Don't worry, there's always next time. Now who wants pancakes?" she asked, and they both raised their hands.

"Me!" Sophie yelled.

"What about you Lyla?" Aunt Carol asked, and her cousins turned around, suddenly realizing she was there.

"Lyla? When did you get here?" he asked.

"I didn't leave. I slept over." she answered, and they ran over into the living room, jumping onto the couch next to her. She quickly covered up the stains with the blanket, trying to hide them.

"Did," Jamie's voice turned to a whisper so his Mom wouldn't hear,"Jack sleep over too?"

Llya started blushing like crazy, and she realized that she should be extremely disturbed that she was sleeping with him, and even more freaked out that she was fine with it. They were just sleeping.

"Uh.. He stayed for a little while, but I think he left." she replied.

Jamie turned on the TV, and what he said next shocked her.

"Don't worry, he'll come back. He always does. It probably won't take that long since he likes you so much." he said casually, and she almost fell off the couch.

"_What_?" she gasped. Jamie shrugged.

"Jack makes faces at you. Like, the ones with huge eyes!" he said, staring at her while trying to make his eyes as big ad possible. Sophie laughed and copied him.

"He likes you, like the people in Sophie's princess movies." he said, and then shuddered.

"It's _gross_." he said, sticking his tongue out and making a face.

"Pancakes!" Aunt Carol called, and her cousins ran into the other room, yelling excitedly.

Lyla stared at the wall, unmoving as a memory surfaced in her mind. She remembered feeling warm and cold at the same time, and someone holding her tightly to thier chest.

"_Love you too Lyla_." they whispered.

She didn't move for a while, trying to slow down her heartbeat. Did he really say that? She carefully stood up and walked over to the window, tracing her fingers in the frosted glass.

Did he mean it? More importantly, did she love him back?

**Jack:**

"Jack? Jack, you alright?" someone asked him, and when he tried to open his eyes an skull splattering pain ripped through his forehead.

"Ugh...what _happened_?" he asked, and someone ran their fingers through his hair quickly, trying to calm him down.

Finally the dizziness passed and he could crack open his eyes, and he saw a blast of purple in his face. He closed his eyes again, feeling nauseated again.

"Give him some space Tooth!" someone said, sounding Russian.

"Sorry!" she said, and he tried to open his eyes again. Everything was fuzzy for a minute, but then he could see four figures standing above him.

"What...guys?" he asked, forcing himself into a sitting position. Tooth tried to push him back down but he didn't let her.

"Are you alright Jack?" North asked him.

"Yeah, I think so." he answered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Can anybody tell me what happened?" he asked, and they all exchanged glances. Finally Bunny spoke.

"We've got a lot to talk about mate."

* * *

**Ok, since I'm freakishly annoying, I felt like doing a challenge just to entertain myself. :) So thr first person to review and tell me the name of the song will be recognized! Lol! **

**I was told that this story needs more action...I'm not even going to respond to that for reasons that will soon be revealed. Key word: SOON! **


	17. Chapter 17

**Not my best chapter, Sorry!**

**This chapter has DRAMA! Ooh! Yep, it's DRAMA LLAMA TIME!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 17:**

"Lights have been going out all over the globe." North explained as they followed him very slowly through the workshop, stopping in front of the giant globe.

"But it has been happening very slowly, only a few each time. But there are happening more and more frequently." he continued, and Jack stared at the sphere of metal. He squinted his eyes, and then suddenly he saw a tiny light flicker slightly, before fading away. He wiped his eyes, thinking that it was just his imagination. But then it happened again, to another light right next to it.

"Whoa." he said.

"I think...I think that this has something to do with Pitch." North concluded finally.

"No way mate, that's not possible. We saw him get consumed by his own nightmares only a year ago!" Bunnymund replied.

"There's no way he could be back already. The kids aren't afraid of him." Bunny added, and Sandy just nodded slightly, looked worried.

Jack didn't move, or do anything. He couldn't help but think about all of his nightmares, and the cuts on his face, which were now covered up with tiny bandages. They were almost gone now, since that they all healed much faster than normal people. If Pitch was back...

"Do you think..." Tooth began, glancing at Jack slightly, before looking away. Why was she looking at him?

"Bunny's right, he doesn't scare the children anymore. But," he paused, raising his hand in the air.

"Some of them must be. Someone has to be afraid of him, which has been giving him the power he needs to scare the other children who wouldn't be afraid of him otherwise." he said, silencing the room.

Jack thought of Jamie instantly, and remembered what his face had looked like when he thought that Jack was gone. He had talked about Pitch...

"North, if that's the best you've got-" Bunny began.

"What do _you_ think then?" North cut in with his heavy Russian accent.

"I think...I think that the small amount of kids who are afraid of him must be really scared." Tooth stated, breaking their argument. Jack nodded slowly, that made sense. Bunny sighed.

"We don't even know if this is Pitch." he said, while Jack just twirled his staff around, staring at the globe. He knew it must have something to do with Pitch, otherwise he wouldn't be getting any nightmares. Why was he getting nightmares anyway? Why wouldn't Pitch direct his nightmares towards the kids? It was just stupid, if Pitch was really out there, he could take care of him easily. He just had to find him and take him down, then they wouldn't have anything to worry about-

"Jack?" Tooth asked suddenly, causing him to turn around. Sandy was pointing at him with an arrow on his head.

"What about me?" Jack asked, and they all gave him weird looks that he didn't understand.

"_What_?" he asked again, he really didn't like the way they were talking like he wasn't there and the expressions of their faces.

Sandy made a bunch of images on the top of his head very quickly, and by the end it Jack felt so dizzy he couldn't see straight.

"Sandy thinks that... Pitch's getting his fear from you mate." Bunny explained, and he couldn't breathe for a minute. No, that wasn't... He would know if...

"Nonsense!" North boomed, coming over and squeezing Jack with his right arm.

"Jack's not afraid of Pitch! He's not really afraid of anything, not nearly enough to give Pitch any form of energy." North continued, and they all looked at him with wide eyes.

"I'm not afraid of Pitch." was all he could say. Everything was happening way too fast, and he hated everyone expecting him to know the answer. He wasn't in charge, he didn't solve problems, and he didn't have answers to anything. That was their jobs, not his.

"See!" North said, patting him on the back, and giving Bunny a dirty look. Tooth fluttered over to him.

"Jack, have you been having nightmares?" she asked him nervously, her violet eyes wide with worry. Jack ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well yeah, I mean it's no big deal..." he said, his voice trailing off. Their faces masked a horror, and he didn't know why they were acting like this. Bunny smirked at North, as if to say, "_I told you so._"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sandy motioned, and Bunny crossed his arms.

"You said it Sandy. Jack hasn't been telling us a lot of things lately." Bunnymund said. Jack felt a bad feeling firm in his stomach, why were they all ganging up on him? What was he taking about?

Tooth flew up to Bunny, trying to stop him.

"Not like this Bunny, not now." she said, but he shoved past her.

"Why not? We won't keep anything from him, so he might as well know that we know about him and that Sheila." Bunny said.

It took Jack a while to process this, what Bunny was really saying.

"Wait, are you talking about Lyla?" he said slowly, scrunching his eyebrows.

"Maybe."

"Bunny! Stop it!" Tooth protested.

"What about Lyla?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even.

"There's nothing wrong with her, it's what's wrong with _you_ mate. She didn't do anything." Bunny said. Jack felt anger burning up in his chest, something that he couldn't stop. He got up in Bunnymund's face.

"Well what did I do then that was so horrible, huh?" he asked, glaring at him.

Suddenly Tooth wrenched him away, pulling his back and twisting him around, holding his arms in place.

"What Bunny's trying to say, is that you can't become too attached to Lyla." Tooth said carefully.

"Do you understand Jack? It's fine with Jamie, but with you and her, you know, you just _can't_ Jack." she said.

His head was spinning at an incredible rate, and the only thing he could hear was blood rushing in his ears.

"I don't understand..." he said, rubbing his throbbing forehead.

"You can't be with a human mate. It just isn't possible." Bunny said harshly.

"Bunny!" Tooth yelled again, but he didn't stop.

"I'm just trying to be realistic. If he keeps this up, he'll just end up hurting her or anyone else." he said.

"There's nothing wrong with it!" Jack said, and his throat felt like it was burning.

"What's wrong with it, is that humans don't last forever. They-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" he screamed, breaking the air into silence. His breathing wracked through his body, shaking him violently. Tooth tried to touch him but he shoved her away roughly. He took one last glance at all of their faces before running outside and flying away.


	18. Chapter 18

**PLEASE READ & REVIEW! I LOVE REVIEWS!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 18:**

"Ring...Ring...Ring..." Lyla bit her lip while her cellphone rang, and she was clenching and unclenching her fists. She was worried about what would happen, but she knew it had to be done.

Finally a voice broke through her phone.

"Lyla?" Alex asked, sounding surprised,

"Hey Alex." she said lamely, trying to remain calm. All of a sudden squealing came in from the other line.

"Oh my god! I was so worried you wouldn't call and that you were mad at me!" Alex exclaimed, talking rapidly like her old self.

"I thought you were mad at me." Lyla confessed, almost sighing.

"No! Why would I be mad at you?" she asked, laughing.

"Uh..." Lyla said, and Alex was quiet.

"Oh. That. Right." her friend said, but then her voice got brighter.

"Well I thought about it a lot and I decided that if you say that I wasn't just imagining that guy, then I wasn't." Alex said.

"Besides, that means I'm not crazy, right?" her friend laughed, and Lyla laughed along with her. She hadn't realized how much she missed talking to Alex, and was reminded of how much she took her friendship for granted.

"What was that guy's name anyway?" Alex asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Jack." she replied instantly.

"You like him."

"What?!" she almost screamed into the phone.

"I knew it! I knew it I just knew it!" Alex said excitedly.

"I don't..." Lyla started, but she knew it was useless. Lying to herself was almost impossible now.

"Oh! Yeah, and I forgot to tell you something." Alex added.

"What?"

"I have a boyfriend!" Alex screamed, and Lyla had to hold the phone away from her face.

"Really?" Lyla tried not to sound so surprised.

"Yeah! It happened last night on Facebook, and he asked me out and I was like sure and-"

"Slow down!" Lyla said, she couldn't keep up with her. Alex took a deep breath.

"Okay. But I really want you to meet him! Can you come over today? We're going to get ice cream and stuff, and I really want you to come!" Alex said.

"Ice cream? There's still snow outside." she said, and Alex sighed.

"Please Lyla?" she begged.

"Alright." she gave in, and Alex squealed with joy.

"Yay! See you in an hour!"

"Wait, an _hour_?!" but the line had already ended with a final thud.

* * *

"_This feels like a really bad idea_." she thought, walking up the steps to Alex's cream colored house. The snow sparkled in the afternoon sunlight, and Lyla smiled, thinking about the person who brought snow them wherever they went. Instantly she calmed down, and took a deep breath, knocking on the bright red door.

Seconds later, Ethan Shane was a foot away from her, his arms wrapped around her best friend.

"Hey Lyla, you know Ethan right?" Alex asked, staring goo goo eyed at the biggest player in Burgess.

"Yep." she said, trying to not scream at her friend about his stupid she must be.

"_I mean really, Ethan Shane? Of all people? Why did he ask her out?_" she thought, biting her lip. Yeah, this wasn't going to end well.

They walked outside, and Alex ran inside real quickly to grab her purse. Lyla glared at slicked back, black haired, leather jacket jerk for a few seconds before another guy walked out of Alex's front door.

"_You have got to be kidding me._" she thought.

It was Collin Frank, the red haired wonder who had been hitting on her since the seventh grade. He smiled at her and she crossed her arms, cursing under her breath. When this was over she was going to kill Alex.

"I got it!" Alex said excitedly, running out with her purse. She came up to Ethan and he rested his hands on her hips, which made Lyla want to be sick. Did she know how many girls he had kissed? Like, a million!

They stated walking down the sidewalk and onto the street, and suddenly Collin came up to her.

"Hey Lyla." he said, and she rolled her eyes, disgusted.

"Let's get this over with." she said, and started to catch up with Alex.


	19. Chapter 19

**Please Please PLEASE REVIEW! If you like this story, then SAY IT! :)**

**WARNING: Slight Assault, Depression, Mild Language**

* * *

**CHAPTER 19:**

Alex had seriously made her go on a double date. A freaking double date. With the two worst guys on the planet.

_Great_.

They walked into the store, and bought coke and ice cream, sitting at a tiny table at the outside of the store. Lyla made sure to avoid everyone as much as possible, walking as far away from Collin as possible. Now she was cursing under her breath as Collin slid his seat close to hers.

Lyla looked up at the sky, watching as the dark grey clouds blocked out the sun. She wished it would snow, she wished that it would snow so much that Collin Frank and Ethan Shane would be buried alive, and then Jack would show up, and take her far far away.

She felt stupid for daydreaming like this, but really all she wanted was to be back up in the sky, flying high over Burgess with Jack holding her tightly.

Suddenly Ethan and Alex had gotten up, walking around the corner because he had to 'talk' to her. Lyla tensed up, and was instantly worried if the rumors about Ethan Shane were true. Everyone said that he had 'done it' with almost all of his girlfriends, and she didn't want Alex to go through that.

Lyla felt like throwing up after hearing smooching sounds coming from around the corner, and finally had enough. She jumped out of her chair and stormed down the street, clenching her fists. This was all so stupid, she wished she had never agreed to go anywhere with Alex.

"Hey Lyla! Wait up!" Collin called after her, and she didn't stop, hoping that the red haired wonder could take a hint.

Suddenly something grabbed her arm and twisted her around, and she protested. She struggled but they moved her around, and then without warning Collin Frank was kissing her.

Lyla wanted to scream and puke and kill something all at the same time, it was that horribly disgusting. Collin was shoving his hands up the back of her shirt, locking her in place so all her resistance was useless. Swears blinded her vision and finally he let go. She took a few deep breaths before she got a look at his grinning face.

That was when Lyla punched him in the face.

"Shit!" he yelled as he fell back onto the pavement, his nose bleeding like heck.

"Go die in a hole." she said, and stalked off towards home, tears brimming in her eyes.

But the damage had already been done.

**Jack:**

He was burning with fury, all he wanted to do was freeze something. His throat was closed up and he had never felt so alone since before he had become a Guardian, when no one could see him and he had no friends.

The fact that they were straight out telling him that he couldn't be in love with Lyla, that she was going to die someday and he would still be here, hurt more than anything else. He didn't care, he would stay with her forever, until she was gone. The thought made him want to collapse onto the floor, but what other choice did he have? He couldn't leave her, because he knew that he loved her more than anything he could have ever loved.

Why did it matter what the Guardians thought anyway? Why did their opinion count? They didn't know how he felt, or how she felt. Jack knew that he loved her, and thought that maybe, maybe she did too.

Jack was going to tell her, that's what he was going to do. He was going to tell Lyla that he loved her, he knew that he had too.

Jack continued walking down the street, his footsteps quickening as his excitement raced. He dodged people until there weren't any left, and then Jack turned the corner, getting ready to take off and fly to her house.

But then he stopped.

Suddenly the world seemed to slow down, and his heart didn't beat anymore, and he couldn't breathe.

Lyla was beautiful, with her milk chocolate brown hair waving in the wind, her gorgeous eyes closed.

While she was kissing some other guy.

Jack's mouth was open, but no sound came out. He stepped back behind the wall, leaning up against it because he didn't think he had the strength to stand. He scrunched his eyes closed, his throat tightening up. He felt like he was going to cry, but swallowed it down. He wasn't going to.

Jack should of been used to this by now, being left alone and used, without anyone caring. He didn't know why he thought that this was any different, but for some reason he had. For some reason he thought that now that he was a Guardian and he people could see him, everything would get better. That he had finally found someone who cared about him.

Apparently, he had thought wrong.

It started snowing wildly, the gray clouds turning the world dark. He clenched his fists, and let out a long shaky breath.

They were right, they were all right.

Jack took to the sky, flying and never looking back.


	20. Chapter 20

**20 CHAPTERS! Whoa! And almost 50 reviews! Call me selfish, but my goal is to have the most reviews out of all the ROTG Fics. Got to aim high!**

**Chapter 5 for today! Wow!**

**Since this is Chapter 20, I tried to make it longer!**

**Please Please Review!**

**WARNING: Depression, Slight Violence,**

* * *

**CHAPTER 20:**

Jack didn't know where he was going or what he was going to do, but he just wanted to get away from everything. He considered Antarctica, but since he would be spending all of summer stuck there, he opted against it.

Jack ended up going as far out into the woods that he could, flying to the top of the tallest tree he could find. There was a hole inside of the trunk that he climbed inside, freezing up the entrance. He wrapped his arms around himself, curling up and trying not to cry. He started shaking from the effort, and finally he couldn't stop himself. Silent tears began streaming out of the corners of his eyes, freezing on his cheek before they could hit the ground. He furiously wiped them away, feeling weak and pathetic.

He couldn't believe that only hours ago he was fighting with his only friends in the world about Lyla, how she was worth it. Now he was proven wrong, and he didn't think he could ever face them again.

"_You still have Jamie_." a small voice butted in, and he smiled. He still had Jamie, who was there for him since the beginning.

Jack covered the inside of the tree with ice, turning it into a white wonderland. Freezing things always made him feel better, it always had.

He drifted in and out of hazy consciousness for a while, still crying and doing everything he could not too. All the while, there was an aching hole in his chest, where something had burned out his heart.

Lyla had said that he could melt, and now he fully agreed with her statement. He had caught on fire and disintegrated something deep inside of him.

Eventually he woke up fully, and he could see orange light breaking through his snowstorm, signaling the end of the day. He unfroze the sheet of ice covering the hole in the tree, and he could see the sun setting over the trees.

"_You have to say goodnight to Jamie_." he remembered, slowly climbing out. He wasn't going to let Jamie down, unlike some people.

Jack summoned the wind and took off, speeding through the woods.

**Lyla:**

She walked through the forest, her tan winter boots crunching the freshly fallen snow under her feet. She pressed her gloved hand against a tree, panting. She had been searching the woods for about two hours, trying to find her way back to the lake that she flew over with Jack. She hadn't seen him all day, and was worried sick. After questioning Jamie, she found out that Jack went their often, and now she was hoping to find him there.

Lyla saw the sun setting over the trees, and grew even more concerned. She needed to figure out where she was, fast. Or else she'd be lost in the woods at night.

After hiking through the foot deep snow, she was close to freezing and the daylight was fading quickly. She rubbed her hands together, her hope fading. Maybe something horrible had happened to Jack, maybe he really was hurt. She had found blood on Jamie's couch...

Suddenly she spotted a flash out of the corner of her eye, and headed towards it. She reached a icy wasteland, covering in frosted white snow. She realized that it was the lake that they had flown over, and that the ice was so thin that she could see her reflection in it and the blue water below it.

Lyla looked at herself, her hair mattered and covered in snow.

Then she saw something behind her and turned around, only to find nothing. She glanced back at the reflection, and a black figure was forming, right behind her head. Her voice caught in her throat and she backed away, doing a quick 360. She still found nothing, and a horrible sense filled her gut.

Suddenly she screamed as something grabbed her arms, pushing her towards the water. She tried to fight back but nothing seemed to work, and seconds later she was standing out onto the open ice.

The last thing she heard was a deafening crack and insane laughter before she crashed into the black water.


	21. Chapter 21: Look Down

**Sorry for delay! Thanks for reviewing! Please review!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 21:**

Jack flew high above the trees, letting the wind carry him to where he wanted to go. He was starting to feel a little better, he was already used to being alone after all. Things would just go back to the way they were, except he would still have Jamie. About a year ago, that was more than he could ever ask for.

It was still snowing a little outside, but not nearly as hard as earlier. The weather tended to mirror his emotions, so the less violent storms that occurred meant the world was better for him. It hadn't snowed at all in the past few days, considering how insanely happy he had been.

Not anymore.

He just drifted through the air steadily, staying just above the tree line. The flashing waves of green cleared his thoughts, and he focused on them, trying to forget the hole in his chest.

"_Look down_." a voice told him, and Jack spun around wildly, but there was no one there.

"_Look down_." I repeated, sounding incredibly commanding. He wasn't sure where it was coming from, his head or some stranger. He scanned the area around him, but there were no signs of anyone existing there.

Finally Jack decided to look down, and all he saw was a plain old lake. But his voice caught in his throat as memories flashed through his mind.

It was _that_ lake. The very same one. The lake that he had drowned in, 300 years ago.

The ice covering it was thin, so thin that he could see the black water under it, unmoving.

Suddenly Jack had a strange feeling, a very strange feeling, that was telling him to go down there. Which was the last thing he wanted to do, would be to visit the place of his death and resurrection. But the sensation overwhelmed him and he quickly flew down, landing on the ice and thickening it with his touch. He scanned the area around him, and nothing looked weird, at all. Everything was a barren icy wasteland, just like his soul.

Except for one giant hole in the ice, that made him stop in his tracks.

For a moment, Jack couldn't breathe. A severe case of deshavu was rushing through him. The hole was strangely the perfect size for person to fall through.

Jack flew over to it, floating a few feet above in, staring down into the water, feeling very nervous and afraid for the first time in...forever. He hated water, just hated it. That's why he froze it whenever he could, he didn't want anyone else to die like he had.

Including the person directly below him, sinking to the bottom.

**Lyla:**

There was nothing but darkness, and the freezing water closed in around her lunges, making it extremely difficult to hold her breath. She opened her eyes,thrashing around frantically, trying to find a way out. But she couldn't see anything, nothing but black water.

Lyla wanted to scream, and she kicked as hard as she could, surging upwards, only to smash the top of her head on a block of ice, forcing some of her air out.

That was when the stabbing cold turned numb, and everything was blurry, suppressing the terror building up inside of her. She had to get out of here, she just had too-

Lyla saw white specks floating in the pitch darkness, and she smiled groggily, thinking of snow. Snow. She liked snow. She loved snow. It was so beautiful and amazing, the best thing in the entire universe. She knew she would never see anything in her entire life that she loved more than snow.

Lyla closed her eyes, and all of the air escaped her lips, and she began choking down water.

**Jack:**

"_Lyla_." he thought, and his eyes widened in horror. How did she get down there? Was she drowning? Why was she outside in the middle of the woods anyway? But it didn't matter anyways, and suddenly he found every fiber in his being screaming at him to _get into the damn water_.

Even though he was scared to death, he closed his eyes and jumped through the hole before he could stop himself, holding in as much air as he could.

Jack couldn't see anything, it was so dark, and he reached around desperately. Finally he felt his fingers grasp something cold and still warmer than him at the same time, and he pulled on it. It felt like a body, and Jack grabbed it, swimming back up to the surface.

Jack took a huge gulp of air when his head popped out of the water, and he climbed out onto the ice, dragging the body out with him. Moments later he was panting heavily and staring wide eyed at Lyla, who was sprawled out across the ice, knocked out cold.

Once he could breathe regularly, his crawled over to her. Her skin was almost as pale as his, and from what he could tell, she wasn't breathing.

"No no no no no..." he said, and started pressing on her chest, trying to get her to start breathing again.

"Come on!" he said, panic forming in the pit of his stomach. He didn't know anything about medical stuff or CPR, and he certainly didn't know anything about humans. Humans couldn't stay underwater for that long and live, right? Jack could stay underwater a lot longer than she could, he could hold his breath for about ten minutes if he had too. Even then, he doubted he would die.

But then Bunnymund's message flashed through his mind, dread hitting him.

"_She's a human, humans don't last forever Jack_." Bunny had told him.

Jack started hitting her as hard as he could, trying to get her lungs to start working again. He stared at her perfect face, her eyes closed and her lashes were frozen shut with water droplets.

"_This can't be happening_." he thought, years swelling up in his eyes and falling rapidly, and the words that he didn't allow his friends to say had become a reality.

"_Humans don't last forever_."

_They die_.


	22. Chapter 22: I Promise

**Thanks for the love guys! 3**

**Who needs anti depressants?**

**WARNING: Depression, Disturbing Imagery, Mild Language**

* * *

**CHAPTER 22:**

Jack was still breathing heavily, the shock running rapid through his veins. He still refused to believe it, she wasn't dead. She couldn't be. That...the world couldn't hate him that much, could it?

And she didn't even care about him when he last saw her, she was kissing somebody. Some guy who was normal, someone was real and lucky, because he could kill himself and see her again.

Not Jack. He wasn't fortunate enough.

He finally stopped hitting her chest, his hands falling at his sides in defeat. He just sat there, watching her, crying silently.

He had hated her, only an hour ago, and now she was gone. Somehow this was all his fault, he just knew it. It was his doing, the Guardians were right. He should have stayed away from Lyla, then she wouldn't be...dead.

Jack could feel sobs choking him, and he put his head in his hands, ripping at his hair. The pain was unbelievable, and he wanted to die. He really really wanted to die. He thought he was heartbroken earlier today...it felt like a paper cut compared to this. It was like a hundred knives tearing through his flesh from the inside out, and he couldn't take it.

Jack found himself making pathetic noises of pain, and he couldn't stop. He was crying his eyes out and they froze and refrozen on his face, ice streaks forming on his skin.

He...couldn't...do this. He just couldn't.

Everything was fuzzy from his water clouds vision, and he couldn't think of anything. He continued to talk and make strange sounds, and he thought part of that was saying her name.

Repeating it over and over, and over again.

**Lyla:**

She felt like shit. She couldn't move, and everything was sore. She couldn't think properly, and all she could hear was her name, spoken in a hoarse, jagged voice that she didn't recognize. She breathed slightly, just barely through her nose. She couldn't open her mouth to gain access to more air, which she needed desperately. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that she had to breathe air soon, or else she would just pass out again.

Lyla opened her eyes slightly, and all she could see was a gray sky, and snow falling down onto her face, sticking to her skin.

That was when she felt the coldness.

Lyla had never imagined anything as freezing as this, and she knew that even if she was buried under a glacier she wouldn't be as cold.

"_That's why you can't move_." she realized. She was numb everywhere, and lost feeling almost everywhere in her body. But at the same time it was...wonderful. She wanted to die like this, surrounded by the one thing she loved the most.

Lyla parted her lips slightly, and frosted air rushed in, filling her lungs with air. She gasped, and began choking out water that had sunk in her chest.

"Lyla?" the word was the clearest thing she had ever heard, and she managed to tilt her head towards the source of the sound ever so slightly. Someone was sitting next to her, and it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust before she could tell who it was.

"Jack?" she asked in surprise, her voice sounding horrible from all the coughing. He was staring at her in disbelief, and she just gazed at his face, relishing in it. Just having him next to her made her feel so much better, safer. Suddenly Lyla wanted to go to sleep next to him, like she had last night. Yeah, that sounded like a great idea...

Lyla felt a soft hand shake her shoulder while another lifted the back of her head.

"Come on Lyla, stay with me." Jack said, making her open her eyes again. She smiled at him, he didn't understand. She was with him, she wanted it to be this way. She rested her head in his lap, feeling the coldness coming off from his legs and onto her cheek. This felt better than anything, and she was never going to move.

"Can you breathe okay? Come on, answer me!" Jack said, and she smiled. He was scared, he cared. He really did care. That was enough to make her insides melt, even amongst the freezing cold.

"Yeah. I can breathe fine." she replied, and shocked herself by completing her sentence. Five minutes ago she couldn't even open her mouth. She felt Jack pick her up, and she buried herself in his hoodie. It was so soft, and it brought her every form of comfort.

"God, you're freezing." he muttered and she felt then rise into the air, but she was too foggy to enjoy the flight. In response, her teeth started chattering and the shivers rolling down her back became more frequent. The coldness hurt so bad but felt so good...she couldn't get enough.

"Stay awake, come on, stay awake. Don't worry, I'll get you back home. You're gonna be alright." Jack said over and over again. She felt the wind biting at the corners of her face, and she waited for it all to end. She knew it was coming, so she just relished in each second close to him, savoring in his contact. It was officially her favorite thing ever, and she knew there was nothing else in the entire world like it, like him.

"I love you." she mumbled softly, before everything faded to black.

**Jack:**

He flew as fast ad he could, clutching Lyla's immobile body to his chest. He was going to make sure she survived, even if when it was all over she never wanted to see him again. He didn't care if she didn't love him back, he loved her anyways and wasn't going to let her die.

"Come on, hang in there." he said, feeling her body shaking violently in his arms, and the desperate need to get her someplace warm was intensifying.

"I love you." Lyla said suddenly, before all of her vibrating stopped completely, and her fingers dropped from his hoodie. Jack glanced down at her still face in shock, had she actually said...

He could tell she was breathing, but it was slowing considerably again, and he knew he had to get her out of the cold as soon as possible.

"_Go down. On the left_." the wind whispered to him. He heeded it's advice and dived down, and saw a cave right where the wind told him to go.

Jack flew inside, and all of a sudden the wind and snow vanished, and thought it was a little bit warmer, at least the wind wouldn't be in here anymore. He was fine with the wind, but everything he did just made it worse for Lyla.

Jack set her down onto the ground, which was covered in a bunch of dead leaves. She was still knocked out, and by now her heartbeat was freakishly slow.

Jack stared at her, still unsure of what to do. She wasn't shaking, but her skin was as pale as his, which he took as a pretty bad sign. He knew that getting closer to her wouldn't help heat her up, or anything else for that matter. The only thing he could do was block the wind and dry her off with his sweatshirt-

Jack glanced at his torso, and wondered if his hoodie was as cold as he was, and of it would turn back to normal if he took it off. He might as well try, he didn't have any other ideas.

Jack was shirtless in a few seconds, and he tried wiping the water off of Lyla with it. He pressed it against he neck, and that was when he heard it.

Nothing. There was nothing.

Exactly.

The horrible fear creeped up on him again, and he needed to get her to breathe again or else...

Jack started pushing on her chest again, and then remembered how well that had worked the last time. She had only started breathing once her mouth was open, and automatically he reached for her face, delicately moving her lips apart. He say back and waited for her to start breathing again like she had earlier.

But she didn't. The air didn't come rushing into her lungs like it had, and the panic overwhelmed him until he was drowning in it.

So Jack did the only thing he could think of.

He kissed her.

Jack had seen people do CPR a few times in his existence, but he had never done it before or ever imagined it would happen. He had a little idea of what he was doing, and it was the weirdest thing ever. He was breathing into her, and the entire time he was trying not to enjoy the fact that her lips were pressed against his. She had kissed another guy, and he knew the last thing she wanted was him to do this. She would probably kill him when she woke up...

Suddenly he heard a loud gasp, and her eyes flew open, staring into his. He moved his head away, and all he wanted to do was run. Run far far away and never come back.

But then the unbelievable happened.

**Lyla:**

She gasped, and everything around her was as sharp as a knife. The freezing air filled her lungs, and a warm sensation rolled through her body. She was aware of one thing and one thing only.

Jack was almost kissing her, and his mouth was pressed against hers, and it was amazing.

She could only see his laser blue eyes cutting into hers, and the pain vanished entirely, and she couldn't feel anything except for one emotion.

And for once her in life, she actually wanted to do something she never imagined she would do.

She kissed him.

Lyla pushed herself up and gently placed her lips against his, and rubbing her hands into his snow white hair. For a moment he didn't do anything, out of shock she guessed, but then he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her closer to him.

The intense rush filled every inch of her body, taking over her senses, and she drowned it in all. It was the most amazing, spectacular, sensation ever.

Lyla had kissed someone before, earlier today in fact, and she had cried her eyes out at home over it. She had wanted her first kiss to be perfect, and not by some jerk who assaulted her. But right now, that didn't even matter. This was her real first kiss, and it was better than she had imagined.

She was so caught up in the hurricane caused by the contrast of their body temperatures slamming into each other and exploding that she almost forgot to breathe, and got even dizzier. She removed her hands from his neck and pressed them against his chest, which was shirtless and felt like ice. She could feel shivers roll down her spine where his fingers were caressing her shoulders, and her thrill factor rose to a million.

Lyla never wanted it to end, but finally they both let go at the same time, and she still held onto him. She started taking deep breaths and realized that she had barely been taking in air, she was so caught up in everything.

Jack was staring at her with his amazing eyes, and they didn't say anything for a while, just gazed at each other. She took the time memorizing every outline of his face, and she never wanted to move. Not ever.

But what if he did? She had kissed him, what if he didn't like her back? What if he had disappeared all day because he wanted to stay away from her? Panic formed in her stomach, but then it was all washed away.

"I love you." Jack told her, and she melted. Literally. She couldn't breathe and her world seemed to be set in slow motion. He had said it, he really did, he felt the same way...

"I love you too." she replied, and he looked surprised. Why? She had just kissed him, didn't he know that you only kiss people if you loved them?

"But...I saw you...and that guy..." Jack's voice trailed off, sounding very confused.

"Wait, are you talking about _Collin_?" she asked. Did he seriously think that she liked Collin?

"Uh...maybe?" he said.

"Alex made me go with them because she has a boyfriend, and she tricked me into going on a double date." Lyla explained.

"But...you kissed him-"

"He assaulted me! Didn't you see when I punched him in the face?" she exclaimed. How could he have even thought that she liked Collin? Ugh, that was just gross.

"Nope, you're too sweet and innocent to _ever_ do that." he said, a sarcastic smile on his face.

"Yeah, it's definitely hard to imagine be doing anything like _that_." she replied, smiling.

"So...you're sure you don't like that guy because if you do I'll back off-"

Suddenly she couldn't take it anymore and she reached up and kissed him again, cutting off his sentence. He moved his hands up and down the back of her shirt again and they felt so good, she was so hot she felt like she was on fire.

Eventually they stopped, and she looked him right in the eye.

"Are you done believing I don't love you now?" she asked, and he laughed.

"Sure. Are you done almost getting yourself killed every second of the day yet?" he asked, and even though he was smiling she could see the worry etched in the corners of his eyes. He had really freaked out, and she knew she hadn't been helping.

"I'm sorry. I'll be more careful." she said.

"Okay, just promise me you won't kill yourself Lyla?" he asked, and she kissed him quickly, still relishing in the sensation.

"I promise." she whispered.

* * *

**Oh yeah, I totally just did that. Review if u loved it!**


	23. Chapter 23: Wow

**Who was shocked by the last chapter? I tried to make it longer for you guys! I GIVE LOVE FOR MY VIEWERS! But more love for my reviewers, followers, and favorites! If your not one of them, do it now! And get extra love!**

**Yeah, if the last chapter blew your mind, this one definitely will! So will 24!**

**Thanks for the awesome reviews!**

**The One Who Writes The Ones: Yeah, I don't know why it won't let you review. And I'm thinking about it now, but it'll be mentioned in 24 or 25, it depends on how long I want the chapters to be.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 23:**

She grabbed onto his hand as he helped her stand up, and ended up falling ontop of him. After an awkward moment of having him put his shirt back on, he picked her back up again and they flew over the trees for a few minutes and landing at her window.

"Mom." she whispered, realizing how long she had been gone. What would she say to her? How could she explain everything?

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll think of something." he assured her, and just hearing him say that made her feel so much better. She nodded and climbed through the window, and before she could walk away she felt his hand grab her arm and spin her around, and he kissed her. She was the one who had kissed him first, and it was amazing how she was blown away by this recent act. The sensation still seemed as breathtaking and of course she never wanted it to end, but it did and she just smiled at him, feeling stupid by the amount of giddiness she had. Was this why Alex was going out with Shane? Did Alex know how something like this felt?

Lyla guessed her best friend hadn't fallen in love with anyone as much as Lyla had, and then she realized that she was still holding her hand. It had seemed so natural that she hadn't even noticed,

"I'll...um...see you later?" he suggested, and she laughed.

"I'm guessing you've never been around that many girls before?" she asked teasingly.

"Yeah, but I've never _talked_ to them. None of them can see me you know." he said, and once again she felt a pang of sadness at hearing this. She could tell how affected he was by being alone and how hard he tried to cover it up, and she had no idea how me lived with it.

"Yeah, okay. I'll see you tomorrow." she answered, still smiling at him like she was drunk. That's just how happy and delusional she was right now. Her head was still throbbing but she was so, so happy that she had almost forgotten until now.

"Okay," he said, and pulled his hands away, which made her feel like her lifeline had vanished.

"Bye." he said, and then she watched as he flew away, blending in with the snow which was softly falling to the ground. She leaned up against the side of her window, positive she was going to faint or be sick for multiple reasons.

"Bye."

**Jack:**

He was doing flips in the air, spiraling around above the trees like he was on a roller coaster, a smile plastered across his face. He hadn't felt this happy in...well, forever. Lyla made him happy, and he loved her. And she loved him back. And everything was perfect.

Even though he was 300 years out, he certainly felt like a sixteen year old now, and started feeling really weird. He tried to remember what humans called it...hormones. That's what happened when you loved somebody, right? Maybe. He didn't know, the only time he went to school was that one day to see Lyla.

Lyla, wow. She was just _wow_. He couldn't believe that she had kissed him, and said that she loved him. It was like a dream, a good one for a change, instead of those stupid nightmares. He laughed about how stupid he had been earlier, he thought she had liked that other guy. He wished he had seen her hit the guy in the face, he hoped it hurt.

Jack landed in the middle of the woods, and started laughing, spinning around a covering the area around him in three feet of snow, and turning the trees into popsicles. He felt like a little kid during Christmas.

He just stood there laughing and smiling for a while, before he was finally done. He floated up and landed in a tree, leaning up against the trunk.

"Wow." was all he could say, it basically summed everything up. Today was just...Wow. It had been horrible and wonderful at the same time and just...was this what it was like to be normal? With friends and a family and people who cared about you? Even if it was, he never wanted it to end. He just wanted to stay in the moment forever, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

"Hello Jack." a voice spoke from somewhere behind him, and he spun around.

That was when the moment ended.

* * *

**SUSPENSE!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Sorry, slightly short! But I tried to make it good! Plus, more suspense! Please please review!**

**Also, over 5,000 views! OMG! Thanks so much!**

**WARNING: Violence (lots of it)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 24:**

"Pitch." he said, not bothering to hide the malice in his voice. The man was standing below the tree, his hands behind his back in the center of the snow clearing. Jack gripped his staff and pointed it at Pitch threateningly, grinding his teeth. What was he doing here? Didn't they destroy him a year ago? He wasn't supposed to be back...yet.

"Nice to see you too, Frost." Pitch laughed, which only made him hold his staff tighter, ready to blast him into an ice-cube at any sudden movement.

"Don't be so nervous Jack, it's just me." Pitch said, a smile on his lips.

"The only person here who's got any reason to be nervous is you, so start crawling back into the hole that you came from and go away!" Jack replied, feeling very confident in himself. But Pitch just shook his head, taking a few steps forward. Jack immediately blasted the ground a foot in front of Pitch, as a warning.

"Don't move." he growled, slowly remembering last night's nightmare. Where Pitch threatened to take Lyla.

"I'm just here to talk Jack, that's all." Pitch said, which Jack automatically knew was a lie.

"What do you want?" he asked, and the Boogyman laughed darkly, his grin widening.

"Lots of things. The world. To have all the Guardians destroyed. But most of all, fear." Pitch said, glancing up at him expectantly. Jack couldn't see where this was going, he already knew this stuff and just decided to let the freak talk for a little bit, then blast him into the ground.

"Yes, fear is what I love the most, and I've been graciously granted with a large dose of it recently, earlier today in fact." Pitch said, and Jack was almost strangling his staff now, his hold on it was so strong.

But just then he felt something wrap around his foot from behind, and before he could react he was spun around and slammed onto the hard ground, the wind knocked out of him. Before he opened he eyes he felt Pitch wrench his staff from his hands, flinging it far away from his reach. Jack scrambled to his feet to go after it, only to be kicked in the chest so hard that he smashed into a tree.

Jack banged the back of his head against the tree and barely managed to keep his balance, and black spots clouded his vision. He needed to get his staff, he had to get his staff...

Just as he took a step towards his staff, which was ten feet away, he felt something hard and bony grab his neck, shoving him against the tree and lifting him a foot into the air.

Jack started gasping for air as the fingers choked his throat, burning him. Burning, burning, burning. He clawed at the hand strangling him and started kicking his legs wildly but nothing seemed to hit his target.

"Look at me Jack,"Pitch said, squeezing his neck tighter and he opened his eyes, to see the psychopath choking the life out of him with a sadistic smile.

"You really should have seen your face when you thought that _girl_ was dead, the fear coming off you was..._overwhelming_." Pitch said, and Jack glared at him with jagged knives in his eyes, anger boiling up inside of him. He started struggling harder, but Pitch crashed his head against the tree trunk again, pressing him harder against it as his hold on his throat tightened.

"It really was a rash decision to try and kill her then, I should have waited longer. But I didn't think I could wait any longer to see your reaction." Pitch said, and Jack's eyes widened. He had...

"I'm gonna _kill you_." Jack said, his teeth clenched as he tried to remove Pitch's hands from his neck. Seconds later he felt Pitch knee him in the stomach and he groaned.

"Don't interrupt Jack. Anyways, I'd have to say, your reaction was quite satisfying. Even better than I had expected. You always seem to outdo yourself." Pitch said mockingly. Jack was still trying to resist, and it was extremely difficult to breathe. He hated suffocation, absolutely hated it.

"Fortunate for me, I'll get to see it again soon." Pitch said, and Jack froze, realizing the meaning behind his words. Fury ran through him and he screamed at Pitch.

"If you _ever_ go anywhere _near_ her I'll-!"

Black sand tied around his mouth, cutting him off and worsening his suffocation problem. He just glared at Pitch with as much spite as possible, as if to say, "I'm gonna rip your head off if you even think about it."

"You'll do what, Jack?" Pitch asked, looking amused.

"You really think you could stop me from doing anything? You and your friends won once, and that was the last time." Pitch said coldly, and then gave him a sly grin. Jack watched in horror as his staff shot up from the ground and landed in Pitch's free hand.

"Besides, you're practically _useless_ to everyone without this." Pitch said, twirling it in his fingers.

Suddenly the hold on his throat vanished and he dropped to the ground with a loud thud, and he couldn't even gasp for air on account of the stupid sand gagging his mouth. He was stunned for a minute as he tried to climb back up. He spun around and the last thing he saw was Pitch raise his staff over his head and bring it down onto his with a deafening crack.

"Night night." Pitch said, and Jack fell to the ground, everything fading to black.


	25. Chapter 25

**OMG! I just reread my entire story and had so much fun reading what I wrote! So I decided to update (FINALLY) and here we are! Please review, and I'll give you wonderful people more chapters!**

**Thank you so much for confining to read this story even though I am a horrible person and stopped updating... :(**

* * *

**CHAPTER 25:**

When Jack opened his eyes, all he could see was darkness. It engulfed everything, and he strained his eyes. He had no clue where he was, all he knew what that his neck hurt a whole lot, along with the back of his head. He reached up to rub his temple, but he couldn't move his hands, and tugged on them.

"Damn it." he whispered furiously, everything coming back to him. The last thing he remembered was Pitch smashing his skull in with his staff, and Jack struggled against the smooth metal bands tied around his wrists. He pulled on them, and concluded that they were chained to the wall too, as an added bonus.

"_I'm gonna kill him_." he muttered, fury burning inside of him. He knew that somehow the reason he was here had to do with Pitch, and he was going to get out of here and make the bastard pay for it...

Jack leaned up against the wall, standing up, and white spots clouded his vision. He grimaced as a wave of pain washed over him, but then it was gone in a flash.

He glanced down at the strange metal handcuff that looked breakable, but when he tugged against them nothing happened. They dug into his skin, and he wanted nothing more than to get them off. Plus, a thin chain of metal was attached to them, making him stuck to the wall.

He hated being stuck anywhere, and now his fear of confined spaces was creeping up on him. Small areas meant no wind, no freedom, and utter aloneness...

"I would have never imagined that you were afraid of such a simple thing as that Jack." an annoyingly familiar voice broke through the darkness, and he felt a scowl form on his face as Pitch appeared in his line of vision.

"I mean really, it seems like you're afraid of _everything_. Not that I'm complaining." the psychopath commented, and Jack glared at him.

"I'm not afraid of everything." was all he could come up for a response, and he could tell it was pathetic. But he had no clue where he was, and all he could think of was how much he hated Pitch at the moment.

"No, I guess not..." he replied, and stared down at something in his hand, which had been concealed by the blackness in the room. Jack's eyes widened when he realized that it was his staff.

Pitch was holding his staff.

"You're not afraid of _me_, not nearly as much as you _should_ be right now." Pitch continued, but Jack wasn't paying attention. All he could feel was the urge to get his staff back...he needed it so badly.

Suddenly he felt something collide with the side of his head, knocking him off his feet and sending him crashing to the floor, hanging by his hands. His vision was blurry and bright flashes of heat surged through his forehead.

"Listen to people when they talk to you Jack." Pitch said, malice coating his voice.

"That was fun..." the crazy man added, almost as an afterthought. Jack's vision returned even though the throbbing in his skull remained, and he realized that Pitch had smashed his staff on his head.

Jack glared up at him, his anger rising to an uncontrollable level, and so many horrible words clogged up his throat, he couldn't say anything.

Pitch was grinning at him sadistically, but Jack was too furious to feel even a twinge of fear.

"Maybe I should just make you afraid of me, huh?" Pitch asked him, and started laughing insanely, bringing the staff up above his head, and then it came crashing down with a deafening crack.

Then the torture began.

**Lyla:**

It was three o'clock in the morning, and she was lying on her bathroom floor, feeling weak from throwing up all the food in her stomach.

Drowning really wasn't that great for her health...

She had been completely knocked out for who knew how long, but then the sickness had forced her awake, sending her running into the bathroom.

Now she was bundled up in a bunch of towels, and letting the hot water from her quick shower soak into her skin. The heat was just what she needed, even though she was literally in love with cold, she couldn't freeze forever or else she would get even worse.

Lyla rested her head on the tile floor, and even though she was miserably sick, nothing could ruin her happiness. She had kissed Jack...

Somehow, that almost made up for the whole drowning thing.

She couldn't wait to see him again tomorrow.


	26. Chapter 26

**Please Read&Review!**

**(Guest Shout Outs)**

**Froster: Um...thank you for giving me a summary of your story? Were you like advertising or something? I was interested to hear that you basically copied my entire plot line...thanks... -_-**

* * *

**CHAPTER 26:**

Lyla's Mom had found out how sick she had gotten, and had tried to force her to stay home, but she wouldn't let her. She had to see Jack again, and just because she felt bad wouldn't stop her from doing so.

Lyla had managed to walk to her Aunt Carol's house in one piece, and practically flung herself through the door, unable to contain herself any longer. She had walked like a calm teenage girl all the way to the house, she couldn't keep up the act much longer.

"Hey...Aunt...Carol." she panted, and her Aunt ducked her head from around the corner, giving her a confused smile.

"Lyla? What are you doing here?" she asked bewildered, and Lyla had finally caught her breath.

"I just thought...that you should get a break." she said, trying to smile and act casual. She hadn't considered the option that her Aunt would think it was weird coming over randomly...

"Um, okay, I guess I do need to go shopping today?" it was more of a question. Lyla's face lit up.

"Okay! You go get ready! I've got to go see Jamie!" she said quickly, and bolted through their house and up the stairs. She started pounding on Jamie's door, but he wouldn't respond.

"Jamie! I need to talk to you!" she practically yelled, and then he finally opened the door.

"What?" he asked curtly, sounding annoyed, which caught me off guard. She was he acting upset? I almost never saw the kid upset...

"Do you know where," she lowered her voice,"Jack is?"

Her younger cousin glared at her.

"How should I know?" he asked.

"Because you see him everyday." she replied.

"Not today. Or yesterday. All he does it talk to you." Jamie said, and Lyla understood why her cousin was upset now.

"No he doesn't, he talks to you just as much as he talks to me Jamie." she said in a soothing voice. But the little boy was still mad at her.

"Yeah, but he likes you more." Jamie protested, and Lyla pried her brain for the right response, one that would make her cousin understand so he would tell her where Jack was.

"Not really Jamie, he just likes me in a... different way." she said, trying not to blush as she remembered the good part about last night. Her lips started tingling again, and a wonderful feeling filled her chest. Just thinking about it made her feel excited.

"He took you flying." Jamie pointed out, and she gave him a confused look.

"He told you that?"

"He tells me everything. He usually comes and says goodnight to me every night, he's more of a relative to me than you are." Jamie said angrily, clenching his fists. But then he faltered.

"But not anymore. He didn't come yesterday."

Lyla thought about this for a minute. She hadn't returned home too too late...

"So...Jack comes and sees you every night, but he didn't yesterday?" she questioned, and her cousin nodded.

"Always. This was the first time." Jamie answered, and Lyla had to control herself to not feel anxious. Jack was probably fine.

Why wouldn't he be?


	27. Chapter 27

**PLEASE READ&REVIEW! I'm not getting a lot of feedback... :(**

**Sorry this chapter may not be what you want it to be, but my finals are stressing me out... Ugh...**

* * *

**CHAPTER 27:**

"_Think about Lyla. Don't get scared. Think about Lyla_." he thought, screaming the words in his mind, trying to carve them into the inside of his skull. He didn't want to give Pitch that satisfaction, the madman had already heard him cry out in pain constantly for the past day and a half.

A day, and a half. He had been trying to count, to keep himself awake. Nightmares had been trying to consume him, drown him into a terrible sleep, but even though he was exhausted he wouldn't give in.

No, he was better than that. Even though it hurt and he couldn't do anything to stop it, that didn't mean he wouldn't try.

So he did his best not to get scared, using all of his willpower to keep the fear at bay, forcing thoughts about Lyla and Jamie and his friends into his mind, and for a little while they would work until something bashed into his head again and he had to replace it.

He was running out of happy thoughts...

Bruises covered almost every inch of his body, massive purple welts that changed the color of his skin, and burned with a horrible pain whenever he winced in pain.

"_Jamie. Ow! Tooth. OW! LYLA!_" he was exploding in pain and collapsed onto the floor.

There was something wrong inside of him, almost like he was bleeding on the inside. Maybe he had internal bleeding. He didn't know. But all he knew was that being kicking in the ribs repeatedly had smashed a few of his bones into bits and had caused his skin to split open, allowing blood to fish out onto the black floor.

He didn't hold it in this time, he couldn't, and screamed.

It hurt so _bad_...

But then finally it stopped, and all he could hear was someone laughing at him cruelly, and blood rushing in his ears.

He was so shaken up, and the concussion that he knew he had was making it difficult to think, which made it almost impossible to focus on staying awake.

"_No_!" he screamed at himself, but then passed out cold from the pain. Exactly what Pitch had wanted, and exactly what he had been trying not to do.

He sunk into a world of nightmares.

**Lyla:**

She had spent all Sunday at Jamie's house, watching her cousins while her Aunt ran errands, trying to contain her worry. She had compressed all of her anxiety into a sphere, building up at her core, threatening to explode. Where was he? Was he alright? Did he just forget to see Jamie last night on account of her almost drowning? Or was it something more?

Lyla sighed, glancing at the clock. It was almost six o'clock, and this was the longest time she had been without Jack. It hurt her, almost physically, until she felt her body melting, desperately needing him to cool her down.

A timer went off, distracting her from her thoughts, and she pulled the dinner she had made for the kids and herself out of their oven and put in onto plates.

"Kids! Food!" she yelled, too exhausted to be nice at this point. Yesterday had worn her down into nothing, and she had hoped she would get some of that energy back today. The thought of going back to school made her groan.

After a few minutes she realized that they weren't coming, and a little bit if her anxiety leaked out.

"Jamie! Sophie! Come down here!" she called, but there was no response. She thought they had come inside... maybe they hadn't.

Suddenly Jamie's stories of Pitch came crashing down on her, and she ran towards the door, flinging it open and staring out into the slowly fading twilight. There was nothing alive outside, and even the snow covering the ground looked empty.

She slammed the door shut behind her, leaning up against it, letting out a deep sigh before racing upstairs, and checking Jamie's room.

Empty.

She walked down the hall, turning the door knob to Sophie's room slowly, afraid of what she might see.

Both of her cousins were in the room, along with someone else, who stared up at her in surprise.

**Tooth:**

The girl, Lyla, she remembered, looked so normal and average that she wondered how on earth Jack could have fallen in love with this girl so quickly. But maybe that was part of the reason why Jack loved her so much, maybe she made him feel like he was normal and alive too.

Just like how she felt when she was around him.

But the girl did have strangely bright eyes, with a strange turquoise hint that she found slightly familiar...but couldn't identify it.

"Jamie..." the girl asked, sounding nervous, glancing at the little boy that Tooth knew was very close to Jack. That was why she had come here in the first place, hoping that Jamie knew about Jack's location.

"Don't worry Lyla, it's just Tooth." Jamie said rolling his eyes, and Tooth smiled at him. He was a good kid.

"Pretty fairy!" Sophie cried, and Tooth almost melted. The little girl was so adorable.

Lyla's eyes almost fell out of her head, and she gawked at Tooth.

"You're.._you're_ the tooth fairy?" the girl asked, and Tooth realized that Lyla didn't believe in her. But then, how could she see her?

Tooth fluttered over to the girl, hovering across from her, which caused Lyla to back up a little, looking on edge.

"You don't believe in me?" Tooth questioned, very confused.

"Not anymore. Maybe when I was little. But not now." Lyla said, and Tooth glared at her. Now that was offensive.

"Well then how can you see me?" Tooth asked defensively, and Lyla raised her hands in front of her.

"I don't know, Jack said the same thing to me." she admitted, and then her face fell.

Tooth raised her eyebrows, was she hiding something?

"Do you know where Jack is?" Tooth asked, and Lyla shook her head.

"The last time I saw him was yesterday."

"If you're lying to me-"

"Why would I lie to you?"

"Because you were _sleeping_ with him!" Tooth replied, her face flushing. She liked Jack, she really did, he made her feel special, but Jack was in love with this teenage girl, who just seemed to cause trouble.

"How...how would you know..." Lyla's voice trailed off.

"It doesn't matter. Now where is he?" she demanded.

"I'm telling you, I _don't_ know!" Lyla screamed, and then Tooth realized that the two children had gone silent. Tooth sighed, and face palmed.

"I need to find him. I knew something like this had happened." she said, her hands shaking with fear.

"Knew...what?" Lyla asked carefully, and Tooth's purple eyes stared into the girl's, who looked so young and innocent.

"That he was in danger. Pitch is after him." Tooth said, and all of the color drained from Lyla's face.

"So you're saying that some crazy man is trying to hurt him-"

"What I'm saying is," Tooth cut her off, "Is that Pitch might already have."

Tooth sighed.

She might already be too late.

* * *

**Hope you loved it! Please Review! It makes me update faster with better chapters! ;)**


	28. Chapter 28: Tell Me

**PLEASE OH PLEASE READ&REVIEW!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 28:**

Lyla's head was spinning, and she was having extreme difficulty processing what was happening, for multiple reasons.

1.) There was a flying woman covered in feathers talking to her, claiming to be the Tooth Fairy

2.) The 'Tooth Fairy' kept on yelling at her and accusing her of knowing where Jack was

3.) Lyla refused to believe that Jack was out there somewhere, hurt or maybe even...dead.

"_He can't die, you idiot_." she thought to herself, but at the moment her thoughts didn't feel very convincing.

"You...you can't be serious." Lyla stuttered, a huge headache coming on. The woman glared at her with her unnatural violet eyes, putting her hands on her hips, which made it even harder for Lyla to guess her age. She looked and acted like she was twenty, but something in the way she spoke made her seem much, much older.

"If I wasn't serious, then why would I bother telling you?" she said exasperatedly.

"I...I don't know. I don't know anything." Lyla said quietly, and the woman's gaze softened, and she looked down at the floor, putting her colorful hand on her face. The room was a hushed silence, and that was when Lyla realized that her younger cousins were still in the room. Sophie just looked confused, she was too young to understand what was happening, but Jamie's face masked a horror that broke her heart into pieces.

"Tell me what's going on." Lyla demanded, and the woman (Jamie had called her Tooth) looked up, giving her an unreadable expression. Lyla stared right back at her, her gaze unmoving, determined to know everything now. Finally Tooth sighed, and then nodded her head slightly towards her cousins, silently saying, "_Not around them."_

Lyla attempted to swallow down all of her emotions and gave the younger kids a comforting smile, which was more directed towards Jamie, who looked like he was about to explode.

"Come on you two, lets go into Jamie's room." she said, picking up Sophie and trying to grab Jamie's hand. But Jamie pulled away, looking horrified.

"No! I have to stay here and-"

"Watch your sister while I figure out what to do." Lyla finished, and Jamie faltered.

"But-"

"Please Jamie." she asked, and he looked up at her, looking more scared than she could ever imagine, exactly how she felt. But she held it in, trying to be brave for her cousins.

"Alright." he muttered, and she led them into his room while Tooth stared at her with the same unreadable face. Lyla quickly dropped Sophie on the bed and ran out of the room, closing the door behind her and locking it before Jamie could come out.

It was for his own good.

The house was silent, and she slowly crept back into Sophie's room, standing in the doorway. Tooth was sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from her. Lyla carefully walked over towards her, sitting down on the bed next to the woman, and she still didn't move. Lyla just waited for the longest time, and just when she thought she couldn't stand it anymore, Tooth finally spoke.

"We knew that he was out there for the longest time, but the thought never crossed my mind that he needed help. I didn't know that his memories were gone. I should have done something." Tooth said quietly, and Lyla had no idea she was talking about.

"But then the lights started going out on the globe...and the Man in the Moon told us that we needed him to be a Guardian. And he didn't look like he would ever try to help us, but he did. Without him, the children would have stopped believing entirely, and there wouldn't be any happiness, ever again." Tooth said, staring out the window as if deep in thought.

"The...man in the moon?" Lyla questioned, gazing up at the huge glowing sphere in the sky.

"Yes. North calls him Manny. He tells us when something bad is going to happen, like...Pitch coming back." Tooth said, and finally Lyla stopped staring up at the sky, it stung her eyes so much that they burned.

"So...do you think that this Pitch person has something to do with Jack missing?" Lyla asked, trying to understand it all.

"Pitch isn't a person. He's immortal, and clearly insane. But we got rid of him last year, or so we thought." she said.

"But what does he want with _Jack_?"

"Jack's the only thing that kept him from controlling the world last time. Even though he can only be seen from a certain number of people, Jack's powers work extremely well, and...Pitch doesn't like being messed with. But what he does like is fear, and...North says that Jack has a lot of that." Tooth was shuddering now, and Lyla swore that she was having a heart attack herself.

"A fear obsessed freak who wants to control the world is after my boy- Jack." she said, cutting off her sentence. But it didn't matter anyway, because one look from Tooth told her that it was true.

A hurricane of emotions flew through her chest, shattering her insides until she was just a hollow shell, and if she even dared to breathe she would collapse. How did her life come to this? Since when was the world so insane? All she did was fall in love...

"_I saved the world once you know." Jack said, giving her a smug smile, sentencing her to silence._

_"Really?" she asked, unbelieving,"How?"_

_"It's a long story."_

The memory flashed through her mind, of when she was in the tree with him. When she had first started getting those twinges from touching his skin...that made her freeze on the spot from happiness...

All she had done was fall in love with the number one person she shouldn't fall in love with.

She remembered when she had drowned, when she had seen black figures standing behind her, invisible ones. When she had heard maniacal laughing.

When she had kissed Jack.

Sure, Lyla was a shell, but it wasn't empty now. Her heart was suddenly filled with a determined emotion, that wiped all of her doubt away.

"Tell me what we have to do."


	29. Chapter 29: Helpless

**Almost 30 chapters! Yay! Hopefully we will have 100 reviews and 50 followers by then! If not I will cry... :(**

**So Review and Follow!**

**ALSO:**

**I have recently been informed that Lyla's point of view is super boring... :( Yeah, I know she's a kinda dull character... But just, yeah. If you agree with this, at least tell me what I should do to make it more entertaining for you guys! ;)**

**Chapter 30! Omg! I'm gonna make this chapter super special for u guys! 3**

**(Guest SHOUTOUTS)**

**Optosexy: that's nice. :/**

* * *

**CHAPTER 29:**

"You can't do anything Lyla, I'm sorry. You'd just make it harder for us to find him. Human's are more fragile." Tooth explained, but she wouldn't listen.

"I don't care! I'm not just going to sit around while he's-"

"Just stop it! You don't even know what you're saying!" Tooth yelled at her, losing her fuse. Lyla swallowed down a snappy response, clenching her fists.

"I know what I'm saying, because I know that something's wrong with him. I can _feel_ it." she said, and as she spoke the understanding of her words hit her hard. All day a horrible dread had been building up inside of her, and she realized that she had known all along.

"There's no way to know for sure. It's just an assumption that Pitch has him." Tooth said, but she sounded doubtful.

"Well how are we supposed to know for sure?!" Lyla groaned, rubbing her head, exasperated.

"There isn't a way. We just have to wait." Tooth said, and then there was silence. Lyla hated the feeling of hopelessness that had sunk into her, she knew that Jack would have come back by now if something wasn't horribly wrong...

"I have to go." Tooth said suddenly, rising to her feet.

"I'll go with you." Lyla said, standing next to her, but Tooth just looked even more annoyed.

"You _can't_, I'm sorry."

"But-"

"Just stay here. If he does come back, find a way to contact us." she said, and then in a flash, the violet eyed woman was out of the window and completely vanished from Lyla's view.

Lyla stood completely still for a while, staring at the window, and then tears started to fall down her cheeks.

He was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it.

**Jack:**

He had completely lost track of time, and pain rolled through his body while he struggled against the bonds of black sand, that had hardened and tied him to the wall. The ropes dug into his wrists, and he arched his back, tugging on them desperately, trying to loosen them. But with every inch he moved, they got tighter and tighter, making him cry out in frustration and pain.

He was covered in bruises and cuts, blood was in his snow white hair, and his clothes were torn and ripped at where he had gotten hit too many times.

Pitch still had Jack's staff, and used it to beat him repeatedly, and occasionally just used his sharp fingernails to cut into his face, resulting in Jack's body becoming littered with various injuries that his naturally healing body couldn't keep up with.

"You really are something else Jack..."

Jack tilted his head upwards slightly, and glared at Pitch as he walked into the room, twirling Jack's blood soaked staff in his fingers.

Even though he felt like he had been run over by a truck, he still had enough strength to feel the freezing hatred that had developed for Pitch after the past few days of constant torture.

The madman grinned at him, shaking his head.

"Really, I would have expected you to give up earlier, after all the screaming you were doing..." a sadistic smile crept onto Pitch's face while he spoke, which made drops of fear leak out of Jack, making him fight against his restraints.

"W-what, what do you w-want?" he rasped, his voice shaking. Pitch revealed his teeth, bloodlust burning in his bright yellow eyes.

"I want you to be in pain, and I want to be the one causing it. I want to watch you break." he said, his voice dark and unforgiving, and Jack started trembling, unable to stop the fear from flowing freely through him. He was terrified.

All of his blood rushing out...

The realistic thought was enough to send him into panic, and he tugged ferociously against the bonds, grinding his teeth in frustration.

Something hit him in the head and he went slack, biting his lip to contain any cries of pain.

"Of course, it's taking a lot for me to reach your breaking point. You're actually impressing me." Pitch said, taking a few steps closer. Jack opened his eyes, and everything was blurry, his head throbbing.

"I'm flattered." he snapped, fury forming in his chest. He wished that he had his staff, so he could give Pitch a piece of his mind...

Pitch laughed darkly,

"You hate me so much, don't you?"

"Congrats Einstein."

He grabbed his hair, yanking it hard and shoving Jack's head against the wall, tilting his chin up.

"But you're not scared, not as much as I wanted." Pitch grinned at him evilly.

"I wonder what would happen if I killed all your friends right in front of you... maybe that would wipe the smug little smile off your face." he said, and Jack stopped breathing almost entirely. He was going to hurt them...

"I'll stop." he whispered, so quiet that he could barely hear himself, but he was desperate. He couldn't let his friends go through what he was going through right now...

"It's too late for that Jack, I've already been planning on it. Besides, I've been dying to see you're reaction to when your little human friends get what's coming to them. It's actually quite adorable how attached you are to them." Pitch said, smirking at him. Jack's eyes grew wide and he started struggling, trying to get away, yelling furiously. This only seemed to fuel Pitch even more.

"Especially that little girl you like so much, she's very pretty. Maybe I should keep her for myself-"

"SHUT UP!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to lash out at Pitch but the ropes held him back. He glared at him with pure hatred, his eyes turning ice cold.

"If you even go anywhere near Lyla I swear I'll-"

"There's not much you could do anyway Jack. You're the one that got her into this mess, you really do have a bad habit of interfering." Pitch said, making Jack feel something dark, deep down inside. He was right, it was his fault. The other Guardians were right, he should have stayed away from her. Then she would be safe...

It really was all his fault.


	30. Chapter 30: The Test

**WARNING: Blood, Disturbing Imagery**

* * *

**CHAPTER 30:**

Tooth flew through the chilling night air, speeding fast so she couldn't think. But no matter how quickly she fluttered her wings, she couldn't forget her troubles.

Jack was in danger, when Lyla has told her that she had a feeling, Tooth knew that she wasn't the only one. Ever since Jack had stormed out of the pole, she had known something would go terribly wrong.

Besides...what if he was out there, hurt and all alone? What if she never found him? What if...what if Pitch really _did_ have him?

The other Guardians thought that the reason the lights were going out on the globe was because of Pitch, and that Pitch was getting his fear from Jack. What if it was true?

A dozen of terrible images flashed through her mind, and she stopped still in kid air, tremors rolling through her body. No, it was too horrible. She couldn't think about it, or her heart would break.

She couldn't stand to think of him in pain, or she would shatter into a million pieces.

Tooth glanced up at the sky, moonlight shining down onto her.

"Please," she whispered, tears brimming in her eyes,"Please let him be okay. I can't live without him. Please save him somehow."

"Please help us."

**Lyla:**

Everything was dark and empty, and the only light was hanging from the ceiling, flickering on and off every few seconds. She walked carefully in her bare feet across the smooth, slick, stone floor, wondering why she was there and where she was.

The light went out completely, and for a few seconds there was utter silence, and dread formed in the pit of her stomach.

But then an ear splitting shriek bounced off the concrete walls of the room, the screams filling her mind, and they never seemed to stop. She covered her ears and bent over, trying to block out the sound, and then the lights came back on.

The floor was wet, and her bare feet were smeared in blood.

Lyla screamed and stepped back, but the blood was everywhere, forming swirling patterns across the tiles.

She glanced up, and her heart stopped. But the lights went out, and there was nothing but the emptiness again.

But she had seen it.

It was Jack.

The lights turned on and off so quickly that it was almost strobe like, but she was screaming at the sight in front of her.

She knew where the blood had come from now.

Lyla stepped forward, and then started running, but then the darkness was spinning around her, and in the blink of the eye her world was filled with light.

She rubbed her eyes, and then realized that she was outside.

Trees surrounded her, and she gazed around wildly, and then she saw the wide expanse of ice stretched out to her right. The moonlight reflected off of the glassy water, and she gazed up at it, the bright blue light almost blinding her, making her eyes hurt.

She looked down, and wondered what on earth was happening, and her heart rate was still high from the horrors that she had just encountered. She couldn't get it out of her head, and she wished she was back in the dark room, so she could so something to stop it.

Lyla saw something flash out of the corner of her eye, and she stared out across the lake again.

There was something on the other side, and at first she thought she was imagining it, but after blinking several times she realized what she was looking at.

Light, bright blue light, was glowing across the lake, forming a path into the woods.

So many thoughts began spinning in her head, and she felt a strong urge to run over there, but she remembered the last time she had gone onto the lake.

She had almost drowned.

But she felt like she had to follow the path, like she would die if she didn't, and then she realized why.

The dark room. Jack. The lights would lead her there. She could find him, get him out of there, and the blood would be gone.

Lyla cautiously walked towards the lake, until the tips of her toes were touching the ice, and the coldness seeped into her bones.

She stepped onto the ice.

The sheet of white seemed to shift under her weight, and she balanced her other foot onto the snow. She clenched her fists, and took another step.

Then another, and another.

Slowly but surely, she was making her way across the frozen lake, and she began trembling, the possibility of each step being her last filling her veins with adrenaline, until she reached the other side.

She stepped onto the ground, and stared at the blue light, only five feet away. She was getting ready to run at it, but then a deafening crack filled the air. She spun around, and watched in awe as the ice split into pieces, slowly sinking into the water.

Lyla didn't move, she didn't know what else to do, but then she watched as something fell into the water a meter away, just on the edge of the lake. And flinched away, almost falling backwards onto the ground, but she managed to remain standing. She carefully crept towards the water, and peered down into it.

Bright blue light filled the rippling waves, and she could see her reflection matching the moons in the water, and a voice filled her mind.

"_You just passed the test_," it said, and then the bright light in the water grew so intense that she was consumed by it.

Lyla's eyes flew open and she gasped for breath, her vision foggy and her mind spinning. She glanced around wildly, and then realized that she was on her cousin's couch.

She sighed, staring up at the ceiling, tempted to laugh. She had just been dreaming, and it was a crazy dream at that.

But then something began glowing near her hand, and she looked down to see her fingers engulfed in turquoise light.

"Oh my god." she whispered, and then it faded, revealing a small, silver object wound tightly around her finger.

It was a ring, with a moon on it.

Lyla stood up quickly, running over to the window, and she gazed up at the sky, a billion things clicking into place.

Moonlight shined down onto her face, and she could hear the words repeated in her mind, and she knew who they belonged to.

The Man in the Moon.


	31. Chapter 31: Nightmares

**HOLA!**

**Do any of you have an Instagram? If you do, you should follow Secret_fangirl cause that's me! Please do so! There's smexy pictures of certain attractive snowflake heads... ;)**

**Also, I have a Wattpad account called MoonGirl1155, so follow that 2!**

**We should put ROTG fanfiction on Wattpad...?**

**I'm so super excited about this chapter! I hope you love it! We're almost to the good part...he he he... 0_-**

**Almost _10,000_ views...OMG! I LOVE YOU ALL! :D**

**PLEASE READ&REVIEW!**

**(SHOUTOUTS)**

**Writing Rules: OMG! I loved your review! Thanks! And now that you mention it, the last chapter does remind me of Brave...I had never thought about it. Huh.**

**WARNING: EXTREME violence, torture, sadism- DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ! (but please read) ;)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 31:**

Everything hurt. Literally everything. He didn't even know why he was trying anymore, but he did. He made sarcastic comments, glared, swore, and struggled so hard that it made the pain a hundred times worse. But he didn't care, because he was getting out of there even if it killed him. Which was impossible, he couldn't die, but it didn't matter anyway. If he ended up being trapped there so long that Lyla and Jamie and everyone else forgot about him-he'd find a way to die.

But in the meantime he wasn't that desperate yet, and was still fighting. And it all seemed worth it, every second of pain, when he heard her voice.

"Jack?"

It echoed in his ears and made his head spin, filling him with the strongest feeling ever. He opened his eyes, and it was the biggest miracle on earth.

She was standing there, looking beautifully amazing, staring at him from a few feet away, with the deepest concern in her eyes. His heart lifted when he saw that she was unscathed, and just looked a little nervous, but overall she just appeared genuinely happy to see him.

"Lyla."

Everything seemed to vanish right then, the darkness, the sand, and the pain. He stood up and ran towards her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him, burying his face into her neck, almost dying from the sensation of seeing her, touching her again. She squeezed him back just as tightly, and she started crying.

"I thought-"

"It's okay. It's okay." he loved hearing her voice. It was so perfect sounding right now. Everything was perfect. She was actually there, and he was never going tI leave her again.

The warm tears of joy that were spilling out of her eyes dropped onto his skin, and he felt the space in between her shoulders, and nothing had ever been better on his entire life.

"I love you so much." he whispered, and then he wanted to start crying. Break down right then and there and just cry about everything. Being alone for hundreds of years, losing his memory, finally having friends, the pain, and now her. She was everything, and he never wanted it to end.

"I love you too." she said, and then she started to say something else, but then her voice was cut off.

Suddenly her body was wrenched away from him, and he grabbed onto her hand at the last minute, her shrieks burning his ears.

_Burning, burning, burning_.

He wrapped his fingers around hers and opened his eyes, only to see her screaming in terror, ugly black hands of sand wrapping around her, trying to pull her away.

"Jack!" Lyla started screaming his name, and he had never felt so desperate in his entire life.

"Don't let go." she whispered suddenly, and he tightened his fingers, but she was slowly slipping away, and then suddenly she was completely free from his grip. He looked up, his eyes wide with horror, as her last screech was cut short. Lyla's body was engulfed in black sand, and then she disintegrated, vanishing into thin air.

"No!" he yelled, but she was already gone.

_No, no, no..._

* * *

Jack felt like an organ had just been ripped from his body, and he was shaking violently, unable to remove the image of her dying from his mind.

"No, no no..." she couldn't be dead, he couldn't handle it. He couldn't-

"Having fun Frost?" his eyes flew open, and he could see black shapes a few feet in front of his face, and he realized that he was curled up in a fetal position on the ground. But he didn't care, everything hurt, his arms, his legs, his sides, and now there was a hole in the center of his chest.

Jack glanced up at Pitch through the tears that blinded him, and he wished that he could wipe them away, oh so badly. But if he did, he would only get blood on them from his hand, and that would only make his eyes tear up even more.

At least _then_ he would have a decent excuse for himself.

Something wooden and blood-soaked tilted his chin up so he was facing Pitch, and he realized that it was his staff, which by a miracle hadn't shattered into pieces yet.

Jack glared up at the man, it was his fault, he had killed Lyla-

"I-I h-hate you." he stuttered out, still shaking from the fear. But a wide smile covered Pitch's, one that was so big that he wondered how it could fit on his head. Pitch started laughing at him quietly.

"You had me worried there for a minute, Jack. I almost thought I had finally broken you with that last one." Pitch said, thoroughly confusing him. What on earth was he talking about?

"W-_What_-"

Pitch kicked him in the stomach, making him release a strangled scream, dropping his head back down onto the tiled floor. He scrunched his eyes together, trying to hold the sounds back, knowing that it was what Pitch wanted, to see him afraid. But he couldn't, and started groaning.

"Besides, breaking you this way is _much_ more entertaining." he stated, and Jack didn't reply, biting his lip, still utterly confused. What did he mean, he killed her, didn't he? Jack had just watched it happen with his own eyes...

Suddenly something almost wrenched a handful of his hair from his head, pulling it up above the ground and then slamming it back down, pressing his face into the floor roughly, smashing his nose. He let out a cry of pain, why did he care about containing it, it was all hopeless now anyway.

Jack opened his eyes, and Pitch was shoving him into the ground, leaning down above him and looking amused.

"Come on Jack, you're a smart boy, you can figure it out." he said mockingly, and Jack tried struggling, breaking away from the hold, but his squirming just made his body hurt even more. What on earth did Pitch mean? That he needed to figure what out? Jack just wanted it all to end, this endless nightmare that went on-

"N-nightmare." Jack whispered, his eyes widening. Pitch's grin lengthened.

"What was that, _Frost_?" he questioned derisively, yanking on his hair even harder.

"You...you _didn't_ kill her." he realized, it had all been a nightmare. After staying awake throughout all the torture, he must have fallen asleep from exhaustion...and Pitch had plagued him with the most vivid nightmare he could imagine.

"You really think I would be that nice about it?" Pitch laughed, making Jack struggle, fear seeping into his veins. But Pitch wasn't done yet.

"You think I'd let you off that _easy_?" he laughed, "No. I have something _much_ better planned for you and all you're little friends." he said, smirking.

"_No_-"

"They all miss you _very_ much Jack, did you know that? In fact, they're all going to come looking for you soon, and do you know what will happen then?" Pitch asked, tracing the cuts on Jack's face with his finger, making them begin to trickle with blood. Jack tried to break free of Pitch's hold and tugged on the black ropes that held his hands to the floor, every fiber in his body telling him to get away.

Pitch yanked so hard that Jack yelled, his eyes flying open. He just wanted it to end...

"N-no." he stammered reluctantly, his vocal cords so damaged that he was afraid that they would break.

"I'll kill them _all_, one by one, _slowly_ and _painfully_, until you have no one else in this world except for your own misery." he said coldly, his voice laced with menace.

"_No_..." Jack tried to protest, he didn't want to hear it, he couldn't let that happen tI his friends...

"Then when I feel like it, I'll kill you, and it'll last longer than all of their deaths _combined_." Pitch said, scratching open all of the wounds on Jack's face, smiling at him with a sadistic gleam in his yellow eyes.

Jack was petrified. He had never been so afraid in his entire life, and knew now that he would never be the same when he got back-if he ever did. Maybe if Pitch was gone permanently...maybe if Lyla was safe.

But she wasn't.

"Please..._please_ d-don't hurt them." he said desperately. He couldn't let Pitch do this.

"Your begging won't do anything to help you boy, it only makes me stronger, I would think you would have figured that our by now." Pitch sneered, and Jack clamped his mouth shut, trying to hold back tears. He didn't want to cry, he couldn't...

Pitch finally let go of him, and he felt a temporary relief, but it only made it easier for him to feel all the pain in the rest of his body. He closed his eyes, trying to block it all out. He had been invisible for three hundred years, utterly alone, and now this was happening to him?

How much damage had to be done to him until the universe was satisfied?

Jack gazed at a clear spot in the flooded floor of blood, only slightly aware that Pitch was still speaking to him.

"But in the meantime..." Pitch seemed to realize that Jack wasn't focusing, and picked up the staff from the floor, jabbing him sharply in the stomach with it. Jack gasped and moaned, his attention returned to the immediate problem, red spots clouding his vision.

"We have to make sure you're in the condition I want you in when they get here. Wouldn't want you to interfere, now would we?" Pitch cooed, turning Jack's head to the side easily with the tip of the staff. His eyes filled with hate and he glared up at the man, imagining an anvil falling on top of Pitch's head. But Pitch didn't seem affected, if anything he looked like he was on top of the world.

Pitch smirked at him, his golden eyes gleaming with bloodlust through the darkness, making Jack long to be anywhere else.

"How do feel about a little water _Frost_?"

* * *

**This chapter mentally hurt me while writing this. I felt like...like I was actually hurting him. Which I am. Which is terrible. BUT IT MUST BE DONE! Ugh...I'm gonna die writing more of this book. It'll only get worse...**

**BUT YOU'RE REVIEWS HELP! So please please review!**

**Yeah, so the first part was so exaggerated because it was a DREAM/NIGHTMARE! So don't flame me because it was dramatic, because a nightmare like that would freak anyone out, especially if they were being tortured.**

**The good parts coming... He he he... -_-**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: This story is so popular I think I might faint- and I need more reviews in order to survive writing about this beautifulness! I got like-five reviews for the last chapter! MORE PEOPLE, MORE! ;)**

**A/A/N: Plus...I'm gonna vanish from the Internet for about an half a month this Summer since I'm gonna be out of state- so I want to get as much accomplished as possible until I'm out in the wilderness! ;)**

**-Summer vacation = YAY!**

***You know what would make me happy? Having some people go onto Instagram and follow: secret_fandom ! That would be like, the best day ever! I posted some pictures for this fic...yeah, I am freakishly obsessed. :)**

***WARNING: Slight Torture, Violence, Sadism (Don't like, don't read!)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 32:**

Jack moaned while his body was being dragged across the floor, his head bashing against the ground every few minutes, causing jolts of pain to shoot through his body. He had no clue where he was being taken, he was blindfolded, but he could only assume it wasn't anywhere pleasant.

Moving hurt so _so_ badly, all of his cuts and bruises scraped against the stone, and he wished that he wasn't being pulled along by his feet.

But that was the point, wasn't it? To cause as much pain as possible? To generate the most fear out of him?

Jack wished that he wasn't afraid, then maybe Pitch would leave him alone. But even as he thought these things, he knew they was impossible. The more he wasn't afraid, the harder Pitch tried to make him scared.

Maybe he should just give up...

But he couldn't, he still had his family to worry about, the other Guardians. Jamie and Lyla. He told Jamie that he would never leave him, that he would always be there for him, but if Jack gave up now, he would be failing Jamie.

Determination filled him, and he contained any sounds of pain for the next minute, until he could finally speak.

"Where are we going?" Jack asked, using all his effort to keep his voice from shaking, but it still sounded extremely hoarse from screaming. He still sounded pathetic. But Pitch didn't say anything, he just started chuckling darkly, getting louder with each second that passed.

"Where are we go-" Jack attempted it again, but he was cut off by his own scream as he felt something hard collide with his stomach. He moaned and quit the tough act, everything hurt, even breathing ached.

Jack suddenly realized that they had stopped moving, and the only sound in the room was his own heavy breathing. Terror crept up on him and he wished that he could see what was going on, but the black sand blinded him, making the silence even more horrifying. He had no clue what was going on, and the waiting just made it worse.

All of a sudden something yanked around his hands, wrapping around them tightly, so hard that it _hurt_. He felt the same thing happen to his ankles, and the sand around his eyed vanished.

Jack was in a long room, one that was similar to the one he had been in previously. They were both dark and made of stone, filled with a coldness that he didn't like. There was nothing but shadows, and it frightened him.

He realized that he was chained to the floor, which made him panic and want to start tugging on the restraints, but the pain held him back. He knew that moving would only make everything hurt worse. Besides...struggling wouldn't get him out of this mess.

"_Pitch isn't in here_." he thought suddenly, and glanced around, confused. If Pitch wasn't in here, then what was the point of moving him? Simply to try and scare him more, get him worked up. But for nothing? It...it didn't sound right, not from Pitch.

He glared into the shadows, sure that something was about to appear from them. Something was going to go wrong, he was sure of it.

That was when he started hearing the _noises_.

Jack felt dread building up in his stomach, and the noises got closer and closer, and then he started shaking involuntarily. He didn't want the hurt again, hurt again, hurt a-

"I wish you knew how _great_ this feels, Frost."

Jack wrenched on his arms the second he heard the voice, terror stabbing him in the chest. Pitch was standing above him, grinning wickedly.

"You have _no_ idea how much I enjoy having you terrified of me." he said, and Jack tried to erase the frightened expression on his face.

"I'm n-not afraid of y-you." He said defiantly, even though he knew it wasn't entirely true.

"Not yet...but you will be. You're already afraid of _so_ many things Jack, and I can make all of them happen." Pitch's words felt like spiders crawling down his back and he shivered, trying to shake them off. The madman grinned at him.

"For example...you're afraid that you'll be left alone forever, that no one else will ever believe in you, and that one day your precious Guardians will be gone and you'll have no one. _No one_. I can make that happen, Jack."

"No-" Jack protested but Pitch wasn't finished with his rant.

"I'll kill you're Guardian friends, and then no one in the entire _world_ will care about you, no one will be there to take you away. You'll stay here forever, giving me the power to hurt children in their dreams, until I feel ready to kill you. No one will ever believe in you again, and you are going to be _alone_. Just like I know you hate."

Jack was shaking. _Alone_. He was terrified of being alone, he hadn't been seen by anyone for three hundred years...and Pitch was telling him that he would have to spend the rest of his existence like that? With no one knowing that he existed? He couldn't handle it.

"_Jamie_," a weak, hopeful voice inside of him spoke, "_Maybe Jamie'll keep on believing, and make other kids believe too, and then I won't be truly alone. Maybe Lyla won't actually forget..._"

Suddenly he was brought back into reality as something scratched against the side of his face, making him utter a small moan of pain that he wished he hadn't made. But he couldn't help it, it hurt so bad, and blood was dripping down his cheeks, stinging his skin.

Pitch cupped his chin and lifted him off the ground as far as the chains would allow, stretching Jack's arms so painfully that he grimaced. The insane psychopath was smiling at him.

"Don't even think about it. I can see it in your eyes that you're thinking about her Jack."

"You don't _know_ anything."

"I know that I'm going to keep my promise to you, _Jackie boy_, and make sure they all die, and that she dies first." Pitch sneered, mocking him.

"_Stop_ i-it, just s-stop it."

"We haven't even _started_ yet. I think I recall mentioning _water_ earlier."

Jack could slightly remember Pitch saying something like that, but he had no clue what it was about. A horrible gleam had filled Pitch's yellow eyes, one that made Jack to run as far away from the madman as possible. But he couldn't, he was trapped, left alone to face whatever the demon was planning for him.

That was when Pitch dropped him and the floor started _moving_.

Literally, _moving_.

"W-what..."

Pitch was staring down at him with great intensity that was really beginning to freak him out even more. Jack strained his head to look away, and then he saw that part of the ground had disappeared. There was a rectangular hole surrounding him that was shaped like a coffin, but that wasn't the worst part.

It was filled with water.

"See?" Pitch laughed, and Jack turned and glared at him, still trying to figure out what exactly he was going to do to him.

"What the hell are you doing you son of a-" Jack felt so desperate, he feared drowning worse than anything else, and that fear gave him the adrenaline to resist.

Pitch gave him a horrible grin.

"Down." he said, and then suddenly Jack felt something yank on his wrists and ankles, pulling him down roughly into the black water.

Jack held back a scream.


	33. Chapter 33: Drowning

**2 reviews! So far I have gotten 2 reviews for the last chapter! :( I need feedback!**

**I am going to apologize ahead of time for this chapter, I feel like a total jerk. But...I don't think anyone else has put this on Jack in their Fics so I know it's original. Just read it and find out. AND NO, HE DOESN'T GET RAPED! Cause I know that all of you are thinking that!**

**Ugh, just read it.**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Neusuada: Lol, yeah I think it's pretty evil too. Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**WARNING: Torture, Blood, Sadism**

* * *

**CHAPTER 33:**

Jack started thrashing around wildly, desperately struggling against his restraints. The darkness swirled around him, the liquid was so hot that it pricked his skin, making his chest burn.

He held back _so_ many screams, while his movement reopened the red cuts covering his body, and the blood filled the water. He looked through the dark liquid, and he could only see blackness, and a blurry outline of Pitch standing above him, _watching_.

Jack's arms and legs ached from his struggling, and he felt like he was about to rip his own limbs off. But he was continuing to tug on them anyway, panic had consumed him, filling him with desperation. He didn't want to drown, he couldn't live through that again. He knew that he could hold his breath longer than a normal human, but not forever. Pitch probably wasn't planning on letting him back up for a long while...if not ever.

"_I'm going to die here, just like last time_." Jack thought, recalling his memories of his human life, when he saved his sister.

Maybe now, if he died, then he would be saving his friends. Maybe Pitch would leave his family alone once he was dead.

The idea of death was became a reality now, and he wondered how long he had been underwater. He bit on his lip so hard that even more blood dripped out of his body, and a few bubbles of air leaked out. But he still continued to fight it, twisting his body and arching his back, trying to escape.

Jack's lungs burned, and he could feel them melting through his skin, opening up and letting the few precious breaths of oxygen out. He closed his eyes, and concentrated everything on containing his air. His mind spun and he couldn't think straight, until after what seemed like hours, his body went slack.

Jack was spinning into emptiness and-

"Eleven minutes. I'm surprised."

He started gasping for air, almost choking it down, and once the oxygen reached his lungs he started coughing like crazy. A mixture of water and blood filled his mouth, and he realized that something had gone wrong internally.

Jack panted heavily, and he opened his eyes, the world still fuzzy from lack of air. His head throbbed so hard that he felt like he had cracked his skull, and he wished that he was dead. Then he wouldn't be feeling this, the aftermath of almost suffocating. Was this how Lyla felt after he pulled her out of the lake?

"_She didn't go through extreme torture like you did_." he thought, and then finally he could see straight, and had stopped coughing.

Pitch was smirking at him, his eyes blazing with something awful, and Jack wished he could scoot away. He tried weakly pulling at his wrists, but it made him gasp with pain. Moving even an inch sent waves of anguish rolling through his body, and he moaned.

"Wasn't that _wonderful_? I know I loved it. I should've thought of this sooner, the fear radiating from you is _astonishing_." Pitch remarked, and Jack just looked up at him with wide eyes, hoping that he wouldn't have to endure it anymore.

"I think that we should try it again."

"_No_-!"

"Down." and he was sent back into the watery grave.

* * *

Jack repeated this cycle dozens of times, with short breaks where he would cough out more and more bloody water, until his ankles bled and he didn't even struggle anymore. He just laid still in the water, feeling the horror and pain control him, until there was nothing left but fear.

_Fear_. It was everywhere, lurking in every corner of his mind, striking him repeatedly. He couldn't think anymore, and now he was half dead in the water, being held up by the chains while he sunk into the liquid. The pain was overwhelming, and he wanted to scream. This time he didn't hold back, and all of his air was released, and he was choking in water.

Almost instantly he was pulled to the surface and thrown onto solid ground, and a small part of his consciousness realized that he was done. He wanted to smile but his body wracked with coughs, his lungs trying to repel the buckets of water that he had taken in.

After coughing for who knows how long, he didn't have enough energy to think, and he just laid limply on the stone floor.

Eventually he realized that someone was trying to speak to him, but he ignored it, trying to pass out to escape the pain. But they wouldn't allow it, and kicked him in the stomach. He let out a strangled scream and opened his eyes, clutching his abdomen where he knew the internal bruises were.

"It's _pathetic_, really, that you broke this quickly Jack." Jack didn't look up, but by the location of Pitch's voice, he knew that the man was standing above him again. Pacing back and forth.

"Look at me." something tucked under his chin and tilted his head up, which he soon realized was his staff, and forced him to look at Pitch.

"Does it hurt, Jack?" Pitch asked quietly, his voice dripping with fake sympathy. Jack didn't respond, he couldn't. Speaking used up too much air, and he was certain that his lungs had shrunken.

Pitch smirked at him, knowing that Jack was in so much pain that he could barely breathe, but the madman didn't stop.

"I can't wait to see the look on the Guardian's faces when they see you like this. They should be here soon, but still. I'm _very_ excited."

Jack felt his heart stop for a moment, and he wasn't sure if it was because of pain or Pitch's tormenting. The Guardians were going to come...soon? Maybe there was hope after all. If anyone could get him out of this mess, his friends could.

"Don't look so happy boy, them getting here only means that they'll die." Pitch said, and the dread settled in his stomach like a rock.

"P-please..." his didn't finish, talking sent pain signals to his brain like a screeching siren.

"What was that?"

"Please...p-please d-don't. Let m-me _go_." Jack pleaded quietly, his voice so uneven that he could barely understand it himself. But Pitch grinned at him, clearly relishing in the fact that Jack was reduced to begging. He leaned over, yanking on Jack's hair and pulling on his head.

"Now Jack, you know I _can't_ do that. You're far too _valuable_." Pitch whispered in his ear, and Jack flinched, wishing he had the strength to back away.

"The Man in the Moon thinks so too, did you know that? He's trying to help your _precious_ Guardians. But we both know that won't make a difference, will it?" Pitch taunted, and Jack bit his lip, trying really hard not to cry. Everyone he cared about was doomed because of him. Tears slipped out of the corners of his eyes, and soon enough he was sobbing.

Pitch tightened his grip on his handful of Jack's hair, making him wince.

"Don't worry about it, soon enough you'll be in so much pain you won't be able to feel _anything_ anyway Jack." Pitch said, and dropped him. Jack crashed onto the floor, drowning in an unconsciousness swarmed with nightmares.

* * *

**Alrighty then... **

**I feel like a really mean person right now. But trust me, the next chapterswill be different! **

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I need at least 7 reviews before I update the next chapter! **


	34. Chapter 34: Sidelines

**10 reviews! I got 10 reviews from the last chapter! OMG THANKS SO MUCH! :D**

**A/N: This chapter may be a little boring...I wanted to add a little normalcy before everything succumbs to utter chaos... but please read anyway because it has JAMIE! Omg I love that kid... Anyways, I decided to do shout-outs because I am so excited! :)**

**BTW, this story kinda has a comparison to another movie that may seen dorky, but I loved it and thought that it fit. So...just read it.**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Sungirl12: Tell Optosexy I said hi! XD**

**Katz908: Thank you! Yeah it is sad... I don't know if I will write more after this story...but this story is going to be extremely long so don't worry. Thanks got reviewing! :)**

**Moongirl847: OMG I love your pen name! I'm so glad that you think I'm a good writer! And yes I agree that what is happening to him is totally NOT cool.**

**Kilah234: Thank you for reviewing! Yeah I know it is so sad that he is getting tortured but I guess I'm just a depressing person...even though he is so amazing and would never ever deserve that.**

**Neusuada: Thank you for reviewing like, all of the time! I really appreciate it! :)**

**Dancingcartoon: For some horrible reason I laughed after reading your review...maybe I've lost it. But I'm really glad that you don't want him to get hurt...at least someone here is sane. Don't worry, things'll get better. :)**

**(GUEST SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Kelly: Lol I'm kinda glad I freaked you out but also scared by myself...Lol is that normal?! Thanks for reviewing and checking everyday!**

**Bunny: Thanks for reviewing, and you are so right he doesn't deserve this. Thanks u r awesome 2 for reviewing and reading my story! :)**

**Gueste: Yes thank you! And I got 10 reviews so I am so happy! Thank you for being part of that 10!**

**Jackie Frost: Thanks! I like the title of the story too.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 34:**

The next day was Monday, and Lyla was determined not to go to school. School didn't matter anymore, now that she knew the truth. She had laid awake all night, staring into empty space, haunted by her dreams. Were they real? Was everything really that bad? Also, where did she get the ring that had appeared on her finger? What did the glowing lights mean? She was so confused about the world, everything she thought she knew was wrong. Legends existed, magic existed, and the love of her life existed.

Only a few days ago, she thought these things were imaginary.

Lyla sighed and gazed up at her bedroom ceiling, her mind spinning with all of these questions. She couldn't get the image of her feet covered in blood out of her thoughts. She remembered the lights flickering in her dream, and the fragile looking thing tied to the wall, coated in red-

She shivered and turned over to her side, forcing the memory out. It was just a nightmare. Nothing like that actually happened to people. Nothing like that would ever happen to him, right? She pulled her hand up close to her face and examined it. The silver ring was still on her right hand, with a crescent engraved on its center. All signs told her that the ring was from the Moon...but she refused to believe it. If the ring was actually from her dream, then that meant that the rest of her nightmare was real too.

Lyla stared past her hand and at the window, where the frost covering it was slowly melting, even though it was only the middle of January.

"_It shouldn't be disappearing..._" she thought. It was still cold outside, but she had noticed that the temperature had been slowly rising since...since...

Lyla quickly got out of bed and stood up, unable to complete her thought. Black dots clouded her vision as the blood rushed to her head, and she collapsed back onto her comforter. She closed her eyes, and all she could see was black and red, swirling together in a gory mess. Almost like bloody water...

She screamed, jolting up into a sitting position, panting heavily.

"This isn't happening." she said softly. Now...now she was seeing things? She sighed and stared down at her feet, and then the rising sun reflected off of the ring, making her glance at it.

She couldn't take this. She had to do something. Now.

Lyla quickly got dressed in a blue t-shirt and jeans, and brushed her hair before slipping her boots on and running downstairs. Her Mom had let her stay home since she had faked being sick, and since her Mom was the only Guardian she had...she was alone.

"_Not your only Guardian_." an annoying voice whispered in her head, and she rolled her eyes, slipping on her jean jacket which was hanging by the front door. Jack hadn't shown up in her life since a week ago, so he didn't count. Her father had abandoned her and her Mom when she was in seventh grade...which was another reason why she had never, ever believed in love.

Until Jack showed up in her life about a week ago, of course.

She locked the door behind her and raced out onto the icy sidewalk, feeling the frozen wind blow through her hair. She closed her eyes for a minute, breathing deeply. It was almost like...like he was here.

Her eyes flew open and all she could see was the empty street, lifeless of any people.

Lyla sighed and walked quickly down the sidewalk, heading towards her cousin's house.

* * *

"Lyla?"

"Jamie?" she asked, she had been expecting Aunt Carol to answer the door.

"Uh...shouldn't you be in school?" she asked, trying to avoid the glare he was giving her, wondering what that was all about.

"I would ask _you_ the same thing." he replied, and then she remembered that she had locked him in his bedroom with Sophie for six hours.

"Jamie...look, I'm sorry." Lyla said, but before he could answer her Aunt stuck her head from around the door.

"Lyla! Oh, I'm guessing the High School had a day off too, right?" her Aunt said, giving her a suitable lie.

"_Well that explains why Jamie's here._" she thought, and put on a bright smile for show.

"Yeah, probably because of all the...snow." she could barely get the last word off her tongue and panicked, wondering if her Aunt had noticed.

"Oh, well since you're here would you mind watching Jamie and Sophie? I didn't have _time_ to find a sitter, since three of them bailed on me, and I have to go to work-"

"Yes," Lyla ended her Aunt's stress filled rant, "I'll watch them."

Carol smiled, looking as relieved as Lyla felt. She was hoping to find a way to stay at their house, since that was the place where Tooth said she would come back if they found any news about Jack's whereabouts.

"Alright then, bye Jamie!" she said, hugging her son and them rushing past Lyla, shooting her a grateful look before hopping into her car and speeding off, probably already late for work.

Lyla sighed, and turned back to Jamie, who was glaring at her again now that his Mom was gone.

"What did you guys talk about last night that I wasn't allowed to hear?" he questioned, cutting to the chase.

"Adult stuff." she answered, stepping inside, closing the door behind her.

"Like what?" Jamie persisted, jumping in front of her.

"Stuff that you don't need to know, you're too young." she replied, recalling her conversation with Tooth. She had told Lyla about Jack...and how she believed that some insane monster named Pitch was after him.

"You're not an adult! Tooth is older than you by like...like a million years!" Jamie outburst, looking extremely frustrated. Lyla sighed, and rubbed her temple.

"Look Jamie, I don't want to talk about it-"

"I don't care! Jack's been my friend longer than you and I need to know if he's okay!" Jamie shouted, and she glanced down at him. His eyes were wild with desperation, and she sighed.

"I'm not sure if he's okay or not, _alright_ Jamie? Tooth said she'd come back of they found anything." Lyla told him, and he nodded slowly, taking in the information.

"But...but...he'll be okay...right?" Jamie asked in a small voice, which made her heart break.

"Sure." she said, lying to him and trying to lie to herself, even though after her nightmares she knew that it wasn't the truth.

Sophie ran into the room, clutching a stuffed animal and smiling up at her.

"Hey Sophie!" she said, picking her up.

"Cookie!" her younger cousin said, and Lyla raised her eyebrows.

"Um..." she really didn't know what the girl meant.

"She wants you to make cookies for her." Jamie translated, walking past her and jumping onto the couch with a blank expression, which she guessed her news had caused.

Lyla frowned and glanced at the clock, it was 12:00, and she secretly longed for anything to take her mind off of Jack.

"Okay then, cookies for lunch it is!"

* * *

Jamie had watched the Iron Man movie by the time she was done with making lunch and her first batch of cookies, and he was about to start Iron Man 2 when she clicked off the TV and made him eat. Eating took way too long, and it gave her time to actually think. She found herself staring into space multiple times, until she forced herself out of it and went to bake even more cookies while Sophie watched a princess movie.

"It's stupid, all they do is sing..." Jamie muttered, coming to taste her third burnt batch of chocolate chip cookies.

"These are gross." he pointed out, and Lyla sighed.

"Sorry, I just can't _focus_." she said tiredly, leaning against the counter.

"Well then go watch Sophie's girl movie instead of trying to burn our house down." Jamie said, throwing the blackened food into the trash. Lyla sighed, and practically treaded into the living room and collapsed onto the couch next to Sophie.

"Hey Soph, whatcha watching?" she asked, and her younger cousin curled up next to her, still dressed in her butterfly pajamas that she was wearing yesterday.

"Tangled!" Sophie replied, and then didn't say anything else. Lyla just watched the movie, which was about Rapunzel and some guy falling in love. The guy bought her cupcakes and took her dancing, and gawked at her hair when it was covered in flowers. Watching the movie left a bittersweet taste inside of Lyla, especially at the part where Rapunzel and Flynn were singing and he brushed her hair out of her eyes, tucking it behind her ear like Jack used to do...

Lyla had seen dozens of kid movies before...but watching romantic stuff wasn't really helping to ease her mind about Jack.

Lyla got totally engrossed then, when Rapunzel was standing on the beach watching her boyfriend sail away, feeling completely abandoned. But the worst part was that he didn't want to leave her, he was being physically forced to, and he was going to die because of it.

Then Rapunzel went back to her tower feeling alone and empty just like she was before she met the guy, and then she found out that her Mother was evil, and that Flynn was going to die.

The guy escaped from jail with his friends and went back to the tower, and then when he went inside he got _stabbed_.

Lyla closed her eyes, this was a kids movie? Then why was she feeling every emotion so intensely? How come she felt like the main character, who was trapped watching the person she loved die?

Flynn was dying and Lyla was about to get up and leave the room, her memories of the bloody room were threatening to take over, but then Rapunzel started asking her evil Mother if she could save him. She said that she would sacrifice herself to save him.

For some reason, that part stuck in Lyla's mind alongside with the boyfriend dying.

So then Rapunzel tried to heal her boyfriend with her magic hair, but he cut it off, causing the evil mother to die.

Then the boyfriend _died_.

Lyla clicked off the TV, and started crying.

Why...why did the world have to become so dark? It used to be empty without a single change, but then she had light. It only lasted for a few days, but it was the brightest thing in her life.

Now it was gone, and the aftermath was worse than emptiness. Because now she knew that there was something better out there.

Her life was exactly like the movie, she was exactly like the girl. She was sitting on the sidelines, watching helplessly while the person she loved most was perishing. There was nothing Lyla could do about it, she didn't have any knowledge of the fantasies she was living in, and there was no way she could fight anyone immortal to save her light.

Lyla remembered the scene where Rapunzel gave up her entire life to the immortal demon witch, and tried everything she humanly could to save Flynn Rider, but he died anyway.

But at least she _tried_.

Lyla stood up quickly, pushing a sleeping Sophie off of her lap, and brushing the tears out of her eyes. She wasn't going to finish the rest of the movie...wasn't going to _watch_ and see if it had a happy ending or not.

Lyla was going to go out and _make sure_ that it did.

* * *

**OK!**

**Well, when I first watched Tangled I was like, 'this is a kids movie?' And the plot lines are so similar I just HAD to. Now I kinda understand The Big Four/Jackunzel thing better. Even though I would never write that because I just love Jack/OC so much! 3**

**I need at least 6 reviews (1 less than last time) before the next chapter please! :)**

**Please review! :D**


	35. Chapter 35: Phone Calls

**6 reviews! YAY! I love you all! According to my reviews everyone is feeling the suspense, and can't wait for the reunion which I promise will happen soon! :) I'm leaving for three weeks on Wednesday (7/3/13) so I may not be able to update as much! :(**

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!**

**WARNING: Mature Content Mentioned**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**guardianofartbravery: I'm glad you got an account! Congrats! I'm glad you like my story and think its addicting, you kind of comments always make my day! :) You should write an ROTG Fan Fic, there will never be enough good ones for me to read, but on what it should be about that is up to you.**

**jezz bezz: Every time I read or think of your review I automatically awww! Yes, I think that Jack is being exceptionally brave and that he deserves a break. But will he get one?! 0_o Lol thanks for reviewing! I loved your review!**

**chocolate1999: Yeah I know! She didn't get to the happy part where Flynn Rider doesn't die! Such a shame...Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Moongirl847: OMG! Really?! You were watching Tangled? XD I hope that she can stand up to Pitch too... _ Me= Nervous even though I know what will happen!**

**(GUEST SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Guest: LOL! I loved your review! Thank you!**

**Pixie: Thank you! I'm glad someone is noticing my details! I put them there for a reason! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 35:**

"What are you doing?" Jamie asked her while she rummaged around the kitchen, her cellphone had to be in there somewhere...

"Calling someone to watch you and Sophie for me until your Mom gets home." She replied, opening up all the cabinets, trying to remember where she could have placed it.

"Why? Where are you going? Tooth said that we need to stay here-"

"In case they find him, I know that." she finished for him, running her fingers through her hair.

"So then you _can't_ leave, to go wherever you think you're going!" Jamie insisted, and she sighed.

"I'm going to do something that's very important, okay? I'll probably be back soon." she said, and the key word was _probably_. She really didn't have a clue what she was doing, except for one small hope that was based on a dream.

Jamie didn't say anything for a minute, and when she turned around to check under the table, he was glaring at her with an all knowing look that she would usually get from her mother.

"You're going to look for Jack, aren't you?" he said, and she sighed.

"I'm not _looking_." Lyla answered, she was more likely finding. Hopefully.

"You know where he is?!" her younger cousin looked excited, and now she felt bad.

"Not exactly." she said, she still couldn't find her phone.

"So you admit that you are going to go find Jack?" Jamie stated, and she sighed.

"Fine!" Lyla gave up, which was a huge mistake.

"I'm coming with you!" he said.

"_No_, _definitely_ not." she cut in, which made him protest.

"But I-"

Lyla understood Jamie's frustration, but she couldn't let him get hurt.

"Jamie..." he had stopped, and just gazed up at her, looking discouraged.

"I can't let you get hurt okay? I need you to stay here and wait for Tooth, and watch your sister. And you know what? Before you know it me and Jack will be back and everything will be perfect." she said, trying to contain her emotions and keep her voice from wavering. There was a slim chance that would happen. Jamie looked like he was about to cry.

"Okay." he whispered, and she bent down and hugged him tightly.

Jamie hugged even tighter back, and she realized that he was scared.

Lyla stood up, and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, everything's going to be alright." she said, and then she could hear beeping coming from the other room.

All of a sudden Sophie came running into the kitchen, holding Lyla's phone.

"Shiny!" she said enthusiastically, and Lyla smiled, picking it up and reading the screen. She had gotten a missed call from Mom. Her smile faltered...what would her Mom say when she realized that she was gone? What would she say when Lyla came back?

If...if she came back.

Lyla held up her finger at Sophie and stood near the front door, leaning up against the wall while she waited for her Mom to pick up.

"_Please leave a message after the beep_."

Lyla sighed, and started talking.

"Hey Mom, I'm fine, so don't worry. I'll...I'll see you when you get home. Feel free to stay late and go shopping if you want. I love you."

Lyla clicked her phone shut, shaking, trying not to cry. The minute her Mom got home from work she would freak, and she just had to hope that she would come back and fix everything.

Before she could start crying she dialed another number and waited for them to pick up.

"Alex, I need you to do me a favor-"

"Lyla?! Why didn't you come to school today? I need to talk to you! Did you just like, _abandon_ me or something the other day because I haven't seen you since!" Alex started ranting, and at first Lyla didn't have a clue what she was talking about, until she remembered that on Saturday Alex had made her go on that double date, where Collin Frank had _kissed_ her. No, check that, _assaulted_ her.

"Sorry I didn't say goodbye but I'm doing that now-"

"_Sorry_? You had me worried to death, and I should've been more worried about myself because my weekend was horrible!" Alex said, and Lyla rolled her eyes since her best friend couldn't see. Yeah, like _Alex_ was the one who almost drowned and had her boyfriend kidnapped.

"Yeah, I'm sorry but-"

"Sorry doesn't _cut it_ Lyla! My life is ruined now, and you weren't there to solve it! Maybe if you _hadn't_ left I wouldn't have said yes to that _cad_ Ethan Shane and I wouldn't be so...so...unclean." Alex was crying on the other line, screaming too, and Lyla realized what was going on.

"You did what?" Lyla asked, unbelieving.

"I did. But it doesn't matter to you anyway, since you have that stupid imaginary boyfriend of yours who isn't real, and you clearly don't care about me anymore! You abandoned me Lyla!" Alex yelled, sobbing. Lyla was fuming.

"He, isn't, imaginary. I can't believe that you would even say that!" she tried to keep her voice down, but she was on the verge of shouting.

"See! I knew you didn't care about me anymore!" Alex pointed out, and Lyla sighed.

"Look, Alex, there's a huge emergency going on, and I need you to watch Jamie and Sophie for me-"

"A huge emergency? Why do I always have to help you? You're not the only one with problems you know! I might have a...a...baby. And now I don't have a boyfriend." Alex said quietly, and Lyla stayed silent.

"But that doesn't matter to you, Lyla. I'm done."

"_Alex_-!"

"_Bye_."

The phone went dead, and Lyla stared down at her cell, before chucking it across the room. Why did Alex have to be so frustrating? Why couldn't her best friend understand? Lyla felt bad that Alex was going through those things, but she had to go do something important, and now Alex wasn't going to be there for her.

Lyla brushed the tears out of the corners of her eyes, and pulled on her boots, slipping on her jean jacket at the same time.

Suddenly something grabbed her leg, and she glanced down, realizing that it was Sophie. Lyla lifted her little cousin up into her arms and hugged her, and saw Jamie standing a few feet away.

"Jamie, watch your sister." she said, placing Sophie on the floor, and he nodded.

Lyla gave them small smiles before stepping outside and shutting the door behind her. It was only around 7:00, but it was dark and the moon was out, shining extremely bright.

The light reflected off of her ring and she glanced at it, and then when she looked up she saw the glowing blue light up ahead.

* * *

**DRAMA! 0_o **

**I need 5 (1 less than last time) before I update the next chapter! :) **


	36. Chapter 36: Into The Woods

**11 Reviews! OMG! I LOVE YOU ALL TO PIECES! KEEP IT UP! :D**

**I'm leaving on Wednesday... :( But there is still hope that the middle of the woods in Kentucky has Wi-fi...so if I'm sleeping out in the shed where my Grandparents can't see me maybe I can write some more! :)**

**This chapter may not be long enough...I don't know...but I wanted to update at least one more time before I leave! Because all of you mean that much to me! :)**

**I edited the summary for this story...check it out and tell me if you like it better and think that it will attract more readers!**

**IMPORTANT: All of your reviews made my heart melt and freeze over again, I loved each and every one so dearly! But I can't shout out every single one so I'm only doing a few so I can update sooner! Please don't let this discourage you from sending me more amazing reviews!**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**jezz bezz: Thank you! I don't want to leave either...but there may be a possibility that I can update while I'm gone! (crossing my fingers!)**

**Neusuada: Yeah losing a friend sucks... I feel bad for causing more drama...but hey, that's what keeps it interesting! Besides, it helps with the story.**

**dancingcartoon: I feel bad for Alex too, but yeah she was kinda harsh. YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET THAT ALEX! ...he...he...he**

**(GUEST SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Pearl99: OMG! I can't believe you read my story! Thank you so much for your review! You made my day! I am so glad that you feel like this is your birthday present...I'm glad I could give it to you! :) Ok, now I know you love darkness and romance! LOL!**

**Kelly: Yes you are do right, Lyla is being stupid thinking and can waltz in there all alone! Or is she... MYSTERIOUSNESS! XD**

**Sungirl12: OMG that is the longest review you have ever given me! And yeah...Alex was being a little naughty and might have a baby. They are all seventeen, so like, Lyla and Alex are juniors. You were close. And you are the only one who thinks that Lyla won't have healing powers... ;) NO COMMENT! Tell Optosexy I said hi!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 36:**

Lyla gaped at the blue light across the street, still in shock. It didn't move except for when it flickered, almost impatiently. She couldn't believe it...her dream had been real.

Which meant that everything else in her nightmare had been true as well.

Shivers rolled down her spine, and she felt cold at the thought, and not the good kind that she had discovered recently.

The strange ring on her finger started glowing a mysterious blue color, heating her back up, and she clenched her fists, running across the street and towards the blue light.

The light grew more intense as she stepped closer to it, and it took shape so it resembled a sphere. She squinted her eyes and reached out towards it, and when her fingers were inches away there was a flash...and it vanished. Lyla frowned at the spot where the orb had once been, what was she supposed to do now?

Suddenly she turned around, and there it was, the blue light, glowing brightly ten feet away, down the sidewalk. She ran forward, and it disappeared when she got close enough. A second later another one appeared farther away, and she smiled, understanding what she had to do now. Lyla took off sprinting down the street, the blue lights making a path, directing her where to go. She felt hope fill her, she was going to find Jack...and then what? How on earth was she going to get him out of wherever he was? Her excitement diminished, saving him was going to be a lot harder than she anticipated.

Lyla slowed down, glaring down at the ground as she walked. All she had was some magic ring, and that was it. What was she going to do?

Lyla glanced up, realizing that her glowing lights had vanished completely. She was standing at the edge of the woods, and everything around her was darkly silent. Then the forest floor was lit up from above, and the moonlight shone down onto the earth, forming a path between the trees. She stared at it in wonder...how...

Lyla stepped forward cautiously, until she had one foot in the light. She flinched, and she wanted to turn back, maybe Tooth had found him already and this was all some stupid...stupid...

"_Don't be scared, I'm right here with you_." a voice, his voice, filled her mind. She blinked twice, and the freezing wind blew around her invitingly, and she tasted something bittersweet on her tongue. It was almost like he was here again...

Lyla stepped fully into the moonlight, and nothing seemed frightening anymore. The path continued deep into the woods, and she started running.

She raced across the glowing path, almost tripping over roots and tree branches, but she managed to stay upright. She got farther and farther into the woods, and her feeling of closeness got stronger. The wind remained, blowing her hair out of her eyes, and she ran to the point where she thought she would collapse with exhaustion.

Lyla slowed down to walking, taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She was close, she could feel it.

Suddenly the bright, alienated light that her eyes had grown accustomed to disappeared, and she was left in darkness. Lyla blinked several times so her eyes could adjust, and when she reopened them, she was in a small clearing, surrounded by towering trees that blocked out the moon.

But the creepiest thing wasn't the dark, in was the hole in the center of the circle, and the rickety wooden bed that was placed above it.

"_You have to go in there_." she realized, and fear crept out from the deepest corners of her mind, glueing her to the spot.

"_Come on, I'm still here. I won't let anything hurt you_." his voice was back again, and she was hit with a melting and freezing sensation all at once. She took a deep breath, and stepped closer to the hole, determined to hear that voice again, for real this time.

**Tooth:**

She stared at the floor, barely listening to the argument that was taking place behind her. She was much more interested in the floorboards, at least focusing on them was less painful than thinking about Jack.

_Jack_.

She was practically 100% positive that Pitch had done something to him... and she didn't know if he was dead or alive somewhere. He could be _anywhere_...

"Just look at the facts mate, it's pretty obvious that Pitch's nightmares have to do with Jack!" Bunnymund yelled, sounding extremely frustrated.

"We don't know for sure, there are a million other reasons why he could be missing." North stated, and Bunny growled, irritated.

Tooth leaned on the table, and then suddenly something flew up to her, hovering near her face.

"Hey Babytooth." she said weakly, giving Jack's favorite fairy a small smile. They had all grown accustomed to using her nickname, and Babytooth had stayed at the pole for the past few days, just as distressed about Jack as much as everyone else.

Babytooth chirped at her, wondering what was the matter.

"The usual Babytooth, don't worry about me." Tooth said sadly, dozing off into space once again.

"Fine! Maybe Pitch _does_ have something to do with all of this, but even if he did, we have absolutely no way to find him! We don't have a clue to where Pitch and Jack could possibly be." North stated, and Tooth's ears perked up. Babytooth stared at her, fluttering her wings excitedly.

"What's do you mean Babytooth?" Tooth asked her fairy. Tooth couldn't believe what Babytooth said next.

"You mean you know where Pitch's lair is?" Tooth questioned, her eyes widening. Babytooth nodded, and Tooth stood up, turning around to face the other Guardians, who were still arguing.

"Guys..." she tried to cut in, but they didn't hear her.

"_Guys_!" she yelled, and all three of them stopped, staring at her in amazement. Apparently they had forgotten about her tough side.

"I think..." she caught a sideways glance with Babytooth, "I think we know how to find Jack."

* * *

**SUSPENSE! Lol please review!**


	37. Chapter 37: Trails Of Blood

**6 Reviews! Yay! Keep it up guys!**

**Hey guys! For those of you interested...I may have a sequel for this fic! But it's going to be a LONG while until I finish it... Good thing too because I don't know what I would do without it!**

**BTW! We are at the bottom of page 3 for ROTG Romance in reviews... Let's make it higher! Please please PLEASE review! :)**

**This is MOST LIKELY my last update until I leave...so enjoy! :)**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**dancingcartoon: Lol why is it that your reviews always make me laugh?! XD Yeah I love Babytooth too she is totally the best! :) Thanks for reviewing!**

**(GUEST SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Pixie: HOLY COW Your review was long! YAY! I had the chance to update this chapter before I leave...so yeah. And the thing about Tooth is that she had difficulty admitting it to herself that she MAY have a crush on him and his shiny teeth...**

**Pearl99: Lol thanks for reviewing! I hope you had an amazing birthday yesterday! :) This chapter is super long just 4 u!**

**Bunny: Thank you! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 37:**

"Babytooth, what are we doing _here_?" Tooth asked, frowning at the fairy. Babytooth had led them back to Burgess, and now they were hovering outside Sophie Bennett's bedroom window.

"What do you _mean_ this was where you and Jack were when you heard the voices?" Tooth asked, sighing.

Babytooth chirped impatiently, shaking her head, trying to explain.

"You need to start at the beginning to remember how to get there? Well then let's get going." Tooth said, putting her hands on her hips. She didn't mean to be cross with the fairy, but she had expected for Babytooth to lead them straight to Jack, as silly as it sounded. But Tooth was worried sick about Jack, her anxiety filled every crevice of her mind, and she couldn't stop thinking about him. She couldn't believe that only a few days ago she was more concerned about him liking another girl, and now he was gone.

"_Wait! Backpedal_!" she thought, had she really just thought, '_him liking another girl_'? It didn't _matter_ if Jack liked another girl, it didn't affect her, but Lyla was a human and she didn't want him to get hurt. That was all..._right_?

"What are you guys doing here?" a small voice broke her out of her thoughts, and she turned her head towards the now open window.

Jamie Bennett was looking at her hopefully, and she remembered that she had told him that she would only return if they had found a trace of Jack.

"Looking for Jack, now go back to sleep Jamie-"

"You mean...you haven't found him yet?" Jamie said softly, the hope diminishing in his eyes. Tooth automatically felt bad for the child, and took pity on the boy.

"Not yet, but we will, I promise." Tooth promised, and Jamie smiled faintly.

"Okay. Can I help?" he asked, and Tooth frowned. What was she going to say now?

"You can't come with us Jamie, but could you please tell your cousin Lyla that we're close to finding him? I think it'll help her feel better. Please, For me?" she asked, and a distressed expression crossed Jamie's face.

"Uhh...Lyla _left_." Jamie said, and Tooth's eyes widened with surprise.

"_What_?!" she asked, and the little boy looked startled at her panic.

"_Tooth_! What's going on up there?!" Bunnymund called from the street below. She chose to ignore him and the other Guardians at the moment.

"She left about an hour ago...to go find Jack." Jamie said quietly,"She said she knew where to find him."

Tooth bit her lip, dread building up in her stomach. What was that girl thinking? Going after Pitch all by herself? Insanity!

"_This is all my fault..._" Tooth muttered, if only she had convinced Lyla that it was too dangerous instead to ordering her to stay...ugh!

Suddenly the Sandman was floating besides her, giving her a worried glance with a question mark above his head.

"Sandy, we need to go. Now." she said, and then Babytoith chirped, flying away in the direction of Jack Frost.

_Hopefully_.

**Jamie:**

Tooth sped off and he felt panic flutter in his chest, now that Lyla and Jack were in danger, he couldn't just stay here and do nothing!

"Hey!" he called, but the Sandman was following her, fading in the distance. Jamie frowned, scrunching his eyebrows. What was he going to do now?

"Where do they think they're going?" Jamie turned his head in the direction of the voice, and spotted the Easter Bunny and Santa standing in the middle of the street, looking irritated.

"I don't know, but maybe we should follow them." Santa replied, and a lightbulb flickered in Jamie's mind. He ran down the stairs as quickly as he could, almost falling down multiple times he was going that fast, until he was sprinting across his sidewalk.

"Trust me, the tunnels are faster-"

"_No way_! You can't beat the sleigh Bunny." Jamie crept up behind the two Guardians who were arguing about which mode of transportation they should take, and he climbed into the back of the sleigh.

"Fine, but just this once." the Easter Bunny gave in, and they both entered the sleigh, unaware that Jamie was there.

Before Jamie could silently cheer, the sleigh took off into the air and they were following Sandman's trail of golden sand.

**Lyla:**

As it turned out, her magic ring did more than glow.

Lyla had stood by the edge of the hole, kicking off the boards of the bed...and they fell so far that she didn't hear them land. She had no clue how far down the bottom of the pit was...and what the outcome would be if she jumped. She was a terrible climber, and was just wishing that she had something to help her get down there, when her ring started glowing again.

Lyla stared at it, wondering why it was glowing, when suddenly the light grew so intense that she yelped, flinching away and closing her eyes.

When she opened them, there was a string of blue light coming from her ring, that was tied to a tree nearest the hole.

"No way..."

So now here she was, climbing down into the dark, her only visibility granted by the rope that was constantly growing longer. She got decent grades in gym, but she was having difficulty hanging on, even when she was concentrating everything on staying attached to the shards of wood that stuck out of the ground. She didn't know how long she had been climbing down, it seemed like forever-

Suddenly the board she was holding onto snapped, and before she could react she was tumbling down into the blackness. Her stomach dropped and she reached out, trying to grab onto another hold, but she was too late. She glanced down and she could see the floor, and just as the tips of her toes brushed against the dirt she felt a strong yank on her arm.

Lyla opened her eyes, and she was an inch off the ground, the rope still attached to her right hand. A second later the string disappeared and she landed on her feet, everything turning dark.

Lyla's heart was beating heavily, and she gazed into the hallway that was stretched out in front of her... completely black but somehow seeming occupied. It didn't even make sense, but still she was afraid, and took in a deep breath. She had to do this...she had to...

She took a hesitant step forwards, then another, until she was creeping through the dark passageway, her fingers trailing the wall. The silence echoed all around her, and then she came to an intersection. She didn't know which way to go, and scrunched her eyebrows, frustrated.

"_This was a stupid idea_." she thought, what was she thinking, climbing down into a dark hole by herself, with no one knowing where she was? She wanted to turn back, go and get the Guardians somehow, lead them here so they could find Jack. But something told her that she couldn't leave, and that if she waited she would be too late.

Lyla had to control her fear. She could do this. Jack was here somewhere, she just knew it.

Suddenly there was a burst of light, and her ring was glowing again. Faint light surrounded her, and she realized that she was already extremely deep underground, and the temperature was freezing. She glanced down at her feet, she still didn't know which passageway to take, and then she screamed.

Lyla's shout filled the hallway, and she covered her mouth in horror. Blood coated the floor, staining her boots. She kneeled over, lighting up the floor, and realized that the red fluid was everywhere, forming a path to the right passageway.

_Jack...was...dragged...through...here..._

She almost started hyperventilating at the thought.

"Get it together Lyla!" she whispered to herself, and began walking down the right hallway, following the trail of blood.

Lyla treaded across the stained red stones, turning down dozens of corners, traveling downwards and deeper into the earth. She didn't know how far she had gone, until finally she reached a deadend.

She glanced up, and standing in front of her was a huge, wooden door.

Without a second thought, she opened it and stepped inside.

* * *

**Ha ha HA! CLIFFHANGER! I'm evil ;)**

**PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I want my inbox to be FLOODED when I get wifi again! I'll make sure to write a really good chapter while I'm gone! :)**


	38. Chapter 38: Reunion

**10 Reviews! YAY! Keep it up guys! I love you so much!**

**A/N: This chapter may be kinda short, since I wanted it to end at a specific spot. But I worked really hard on it...so I hope you guys enjoy it! :)**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**guardianofartbravery: Thank you so much! I did get flooded with reviews, and it made me so happy! I'm glad you are impressed with my story, a lot of people have been telling me that and it surprised me. You can send me your summary if you want, I would love to read it! :)**

**jezz bezz: LOL! I'm glad that I'm the best devil you've ever known! Yeah, I bet you'll love the end of this chapter...it's like a cliffhanger time bomb. ;)**

**pinkittwice54: Lol your review made me laugh for like five minutes straight! Here is that chapter that wasn't there. :)**

**dancingcartoon: I MYSELF AM HYPERVENTILATING! Lol I love your reviews, thank you! :D**

**Writing Rules: Wow, thank you so much! Your review was do touching! Thank you so much! :)**

**Neusuada: I'm glad that I kept you on edge, whenever I reread it I was getting shivers! :) Thanks for reviewing!**

**Moongirl847: Lol! Thanks for reviewing! :D**

**(GUEST SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Lover: Lol I love you 2? I'm glad you like my story! Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Purpleplatypus93: Lol I wrote a chapter for you! I'm glad that you read my story! Yeah I know, cliffhangers are evil. :)**

**Pearl99: Lol thanks for reading! I knew you would love the blood thing! :)**

**Bunny: I am so glad that I'm one of your favorite writers! Thank you! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 38:**

Lyla stepped into the dark room, her heart pounding so heavily in her chest that she was sure someone would hear it. She closed the door behind her, and scanned the area. There was nothing but a blackness that seemed to engulf the huge empty space, with only a dull lightbulb hanging in the center of the ceiling allowing her to see. But something below the yellow light caught her eye, and she squinted at it for a second, and then screamed.

"_Oh my god_!" she ran towards it without a second thought and collapsed onto her knees, sitting besides the motionless body, which was covered in layers of blood. Her breathing quickened and she turned it over, and then the world stopped.

It was Jack. She had known it was going to be him when she walked in the door, but she had never imagined he would be that terrible. There was dried red in his hair, which used to be perfectly white, exactly like snow. The same shade of maroon soaked his clothes, which were ripped, almost as if he was mauled by some wild animal. Every visible patch of pale skin was coated in countless wounds, and tears came to her eyes. Why did this happen to him? Who would be so horrible to inflict these awful things on him?

"Jack! Oh my _god_ Jack..." she picked his head up and rested it on her legs, remembering something about elevation. He needed a doctor, about a dozen of them, or else he would bleed to death.

Lyla was crying now, tears were dripping out of the corners of her eyes, sliding down her cheeks. _Why why why!_

She took the sleeve of her jacket and wrapped it around her fingers, trying to gently wipe away some of the blood from his face without irritating the cuts.

Jack stirred a little, moving his eyebrows slightly, until his eyes fluttered open. His razor sharp, crystal clear, sapphire eyes that she had remembered were shattered, and it only made her cry harder, sending sobs wracking through her body. He scrunched up his forehead, looking at her with disbelief.

"Lyla?" he asked slowly, bewildered, while he stared at her intensely. She smiled slightly, and wiped her eyes with her free hand.

"Hey Jack." she said softly, trying to contain her emotions. She was shaking a little, still in shock from his state. He reached up and placed his hand on top of hers, pulling it closer to his face. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, and he rubbed circles on the back of her hand.

"You're...r-really warm." he said, and those few words seemed to exhaust him. His voice shook from the effort, almost like he was about to break into a coughing fit.

Jack moved his hands up the arm of her jacket, stroking her neck, and then brushing her hair out of he eyes, tucking a strand of it behind her ear. She had a feeling she should stop him from moving, but somehow she couldn't. He caressed her cheek with his light fingers, trailing down to the tip of her chin. Jack watched his own movement with great focus, and then he pressed his fingers against her lips.

Jack finally averted his eyes and gazed up at her, the broken pieces of glass that laid in his eyes slowly rebuilding themselves, letting his inner light shine through the window.

"You're real."

His voice sounded so miraculous, and his eyes were so wide and fragile that he looked like an innocent angel. A poor, hopeful angel who had been hurt and was still waiting to be healed.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm going to get you out of here." Lyla promised, removing his hand from her lips and taking it in hers, holding it tightly. He smiled, looking happy for a moment, but then frowned, as if something had dawned on him.

"You can't. You have to get out of here, _now_, before he hurts you-"

"I'm not leaving you." she stated firmly, and it was the truth. She wasn't afraid of anything that would try and stop her from keeping him safe.

"You h-have to, he said h-he was going to k-kill y-you-" Jack protested, an expression of fear covering his face, but before he could continue he started coughing. After a minute he hadn't stopped, and panic flared in her chest.

"Jack!" she tried not to yell, but she was scared to death that he would die any second. He finished coughing, and gazed up at her, desperation glazed over his deep blue eyes.

"Please...I love you." he begged, and tears stung her eyelids as they began to fall.

"I love you too," she whispered,"That's why I can't let you die."

Lyla bent over and kissed him, and he leaned up on his elbows, meeting her halfway. Once again her heart stopped, freezing over from his overpowering touch, and then melting from love. Her mind spun and the whole world seemed to disappear for a moment, until he pulled away and just stared at her.

"You know...I feel a l-little better now." he said, half smiling.

"Really?" she asked, and his smile widened.

"Really." he answered surely, and for a second she forgot where she was. They were both in a cave in the middle of the woods again, safe and sound, and nothing was ever going to separate them.

"Well, just isn't that _sweet_?" a sarcastic voice cut through her brief moment of bliss, and a wave of horror crossed Jack's face. Lyla turned her head sharply towards the source of the sound, and a tall man wearing black emerged from the shadows, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Really, I think I might melt, that was _so adorable_." he sneered, and Lyla's panic sensors were blaring in her head, telling her to run.

"It's a _shame_, really, that now it has to end."

* * *

**Since I know how much you all love cliffhangers, here's another one! XD**

**I need 10 (yes, 10) reviews before I update the next chapter! I know you guys can do it! :)**


	39. Chapter 39: Shield

**26 Reviews! OMG OMG OMG! WOW! I love you guys so much, you have no idea how much I enjoy your reviews! My inbox has been flooded multiple times this week and I think I'm going to faint! :) [sorry I get excited]**

**On the other hand, someone has graciously pointed out how UNSPEAKABLY PATHETIC requesting a certain amount of reviews is... :( So I think I'm going to stop that since it seems to IRRITATE people. [sorry I have anger management issues]**

**I do feel really bad about leaving this story at another cliffhanger...cliffes are my forte, and I only had about an hour of wifi at the hotel so I tried to update at least one chapter. I apologize for keeping you waiting!**

**I've been reading all of the reviews and some of you are seriously addicted and obsessed with this story to a point where I'm afraid that I'll give someone a heart attack. ? ﾟﾘﾰ? ﾟﾘﾁ**

**So...PLEASE DON'T HAVE A HEART ATTACK BECAUSE I LOVE YOU ALL WAY TOO MUCH!**

**Okay, I know that this story is suspenseful but I haven't had enough time to write since I'm on vacation and the wifi is limited, so I am so sorry! :( Please forgive me! But your reviews help me write faster so please review!**

**(SHOUTOUTS)**

**Nana-Michaela: Thank you! Don't feel bad because as sadistic as it sounds I love reading bloody scenes as much as I love writing them, so don't think you're the only one! :)**

**katz908: Lol your review made me laugh! :) Yeah I love writing kissing scenes and stuff... Sappy romantical me!**

**chocykitty: No comment...but thank you for reviewing!**

**Neusuada: I'm sorry that you screamed for 10 hours...your throat must hurt. I also feel bad for Jack...trust me it gets better. Eventually.**

**guardianofartbravery: I HATE PITCH 2! We have something in common! XD u will love a certain part in this chapter then.. Ha ha. Yeah even if no one reviewed except you I would try and update anyway because I love this story!**

**Writing Rules: Sorry about the cliffhangers! But they're not gonna end anytime soon buddy... Sorry. But thank you for reviewing! I would love to read your Fics once you publish them!**

**dancingcartoon: You're addicted to my story, I'm addicted to your reviews! They are so amazing! I'm so glad that you love my story! Yes I really like Lyla too I think she is awesome. :)**

**Moongirl847: Please don't die! I updated so please don't die! :) Oh yeah and if Jack gets out he will KILL PITCH. If he doesn't get out...I'll go out there and do it for him.**

**kilah234: I think the chapter actually was short...sorry**

**(GUEST SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Puppy lover: Your review was so true! I think love is very important, and I am glad Lyla found love because she would have such a boring life if she hadn't.**

**generator rex 14: Thanks! :)**

**Pearl99: OMG u sent so many freakin reviews woman! LOL XD Luv u! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 39:**

Jack felt fear strike him in the chest as Pitch came into view, and his heart almost stopped he was so afraid. Lyla was here now, she was going to get hurt-

Pitch took another step towards them and Jack's desperation gave him a surge of strength, and he pushed himself to his feet.

"_Bad idea_." he thought as his head started throbbing and he almost fainted, but he managed to stay conscious and upright, and he stretched his arms out in front of Lyla, pulling her behind him. Jack glared at Pitch threateningly, remembering every single statement he had made about her. Pitch started laughing, and every muscle in Jack's body tensed.

"Well I'd have to say I'm surprised, I didn't think you could stand up...or that you were _stupid_ enough to think you could stop me." Pitch sneered, his golden eyes turning dark. Fear leaked into his veins but then it seemed to evaporate when Lyla stood up and placed her hand on his shoulder, helping him stand. Pitch raised his eyebrows at her, making Jack grind his teeth.

"I also didn't think your girlfriend would just walk in here _voluntarily_." he gave Lyla an unreadable glance and Jack could feel her fingers unconsciously dig into his shoulder.

"At least there's _someone_ who loves you Jack," Pitch said, his voice dripping with false sympathy, "Even if it's only a _pathetic little girl_."

Jack felt anger boiling up inside of him and he scowled, his knees shaking from the effort of standing.

"Shut up." he growled, and Pitch smiled at him.

"That wasn't very nice, Jack." Pitch stated, pulling something out from the shadows and twirling it in his fingers like a baton, causing Jack's eyes to bulge out of his head. He stared at his staff, and was overwhelmed with the urge to have it back in his own hands again.

But before he could open his mouth to respond, Pitch snapped his staff in half and a deafening crack rang in his ears. Jack felt as if an organ had been ripped from his body, and he screamed at the top of his lungs. Any strength that had left vanished and all of the pain came crashing down around him, and he collapsed onto the floor.

**Lyla:**

"Jack!" she screamed, and he crumpled to the ground. She reached out towards him, alarm sirens blaring in her mind. But the man who she had identified as Pitch, the one who has been tormenting Jack while she did nothing, just sat there and did absolutely nothing to stop it, was stepping closer to him. She felt panic flare in her chest, she couldn't let that happen.

Lyla felt her ring start to glow, and before she knew what was happening she stuck her hand out in front of her, and there was a blast of blue light that blinded her momentarily. She closers her eyes, and then when she opened them there was a glowing wall of blue coming from her ring, shielding her and Jack.

"How..." she whispered, her eyes widening in shock of what had just happened. Since when could she do that? Pitch didn't bother trying to hide his surprise, but he still tried coming closer and she scowled at him.

"Back off." she ordered, curling her fingers into a fist, making the shield grow brighter. But he just laughed, raising his hands in the air.

"Alright then _princess_, you can have him back, but he's practically worthless anyway." he said, and she grinded her teeth.

"Just _leave him alone_." she replied, and Pitch grinned at her with a gleam of insanity.

"I was planning on it sweetheart, leaving his alone is _exactly_ what I intend to do." he said slyly, and before she could even begin to try and figure out what he meant, he vanished into the darkness, sinking into the floor.

The room was empty, and somehow it scared her even more. There was nothing but silence. She heard a small sound and jumped, glancing down at Jack who was slowly waking back up, mumbling quiet noises.

"Jack..." she whispered, scanning the room once before looking down at him again. He looked like he was fighting against unconsciousness, and he was clutching his stomach, moaning softly. It broke her heart, smashing it into bits, but she had to keep it together. There had to be something she could do tI get them both out of there...

Laughter bounced off the walls and she spun around, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. She stared into the shadows but there was nothing there. The shield lot up that darkness in front of her, and she took a deep breath. She could do this, she wasn't afraid. She wasn't afraid.

Suddenly the laughter stopped, and everything was so quiet that she couldn't hear a thing, not even Jack-

"Jack..." she said, spinning around, only to find that he wasn't on the floor anymore. No, Jack was levitating three feet off of the ground, clawing at something invisible wrapped around his neck, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

"Jack!" she screamed, rushing towards him, but as she took the first step he let out a shout of pain, causing her to halt.

"I wouldn't try to steal my things princess, I get quite attached to them." Pitch emerged from the shadows next to Jack and she felt like she was on fire, her fury was forming a hurricane inside of her.

"Let him go." she commanded through gritted teeth, and he just laughed.

"Now _why_ would I do that?" he asked, and the ring on her hand seemed to melt into her skin.

"Because..." she began, and she felt her hand reach a temperature of a thousand degrees, and then her shield exploded, merging into a beam of light than slammed into Pitch, ramming him against the wall.

"I'll blast you into oblivion."

* * *

**WHOO! That last part made me SO happy! :) Please please review and tell me what you think!**


	40. Chapter 40

**10 Reviews! Yay! My vacation is really whacked up guys and I'm traveling like every day so I apologize for the wait! I hope this chapter makes up for it! Thank you all for reviewing, keep it up! :)**

**Your reviews always make my day!**

**Can you guys believe that we're at chapter 40 already!?**

**(SHOUTOUTS)**

**thehomiewhowrites: Lol yeah I understand, I'm a night person 2. Thank you for reading my story, I really appreciate it! :)**

**Moongirl847: I'm glad to know that you appreciate my shout outs, because I love your reviews! Thank you for reviewing on my stories! [that's plural! ;)]**

**dancingcartoon: Yes I do believe that fangirling will be the death of you, please make sure to keep your blood pressure low my friend. Your reviews are always my favorites! Yes, the last sentence took me forever to come up with and when it did I was like BOOM! YAY! ACCOMPLISHMENT! :) Yeah the ring is wicked cool, I wish I had one... :)**

**jezz bezz: AHHH! Please don't have a heart attack! OMG U PEOPLE SCARE ME! Lol but yeah I kinda like melted when I wrote about Jack, he is like the strongest person ever! :) Lyla's okay.**

**Writing Rules: Okay... well I guess if you do kill me I'll get to be a spirit so its all good! ;) Lol yeah I updated and this chapter is a decent size but YES! There is a cliffhanger. Ha! ;) [I am so mean] And this story has a while to go still...I can't tell you too much or I'll give away the big surprise. 0_o**

**Neusuada: OMG YES! I firetrucking hate Pitch! Bastard... anyways yeah this chapter made me hate him even more so I'm in a pitch-freezing mood. :)**

**(GUEST SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Pearl99: If anyone had ended the last chapter with 'because I love him' I would have given them the longest negative review EVER! Yeah I knew you would love the oblivion part, it made me think of you! :)**

**nellie: Lol I'm glad my writing makes people happy! Thanks for reviewing! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 40:**

Lyla watched Jack fall to the ground, gasping in air, and she ran and kneeled onto the floor next to him. His eyes flew open and he stared at her with awe.

"H-how...How did you d-do that?" he asked, and she smiled at him weakly.

"I don't know. Magic I guess." she said, and he tried to smile back, but it turned into a grimace of pain. He grabbed onto her hand, squeezing it hard.

"I wish I could make it stop, the pain." she whispered, and he reopened his frigid blue eyes.

"You are." he replied, and then glanced over at his staff sadly, "In some ways."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...at least I don't have to miss you anymore." he answered, and she could see a faint twinkle in his eyes, one that used to be there before. Maybe he would be okay again, once she got him out of here. She knew she would, she had already blasted Pitch through the wall, and hadn't seen a sign of him in the past few minutes. She decided to take advantage of that.

"Can you...can you walk at all? Or fly or _something_?" she asked hopefully, and he frowned.

"Uh...maybe?" he said, and she bit her lip. What was she supposed to do, carry him?

Suddenly she realized that he was smirking at her.

"_What_?"

"You could try, I practically float on air you know." he said, and she raised her eyebrows.

"How did you know-"

"You mutter a lot, did you know that?" he said almost smiling, but then he gasped with pain and clutched his stomach again, wincing.

"Come on, I'm going to-"

Suddenly Jack's eyes widened as he stared at the space behind her in terror, and she spun around, only to have something smash her in the face, knocking her to the ground. Everything was dizzy and she attempted to open her eyes, and couldn't hear anything but shouting. The world was hazy and she could barely make out the outlines of Jack and a black mound, reaching out towards her.

Lyla yelped as she was picked up by the collar of her jacket and slammed against the concrete wall. Something wrapped around her neck and she tried to pry it off, struggling as hard as she could.

"Screaming won't help Jack." someone close to her said, and her eyes flew open. Even though she was suffocating she could still see slightly, and all she could see was a pair of glowing yellow slits staring her. She was overcome with the urge to run as far away as possible, because she knew what was going to happen now.

She was going to die.

**Jack:**

Lyla flew across the room and he screamed at the top of his lungs, panic overwhelming him. Pitch gave him a sly grin before walking over to her, and Jack felt like he was going to die.

"_Don't touch her you son of a-_!" he yelled, and something wrapped around his mouth, ending his sentence. Something formed around his wrists, chaining him to the floor. He continued screaming even though he couldn't understand anything that came out of his own mouth, and watched helplessly as Pitch picked her up by her neck and slammed her head against the wall. She yelled something and he felt like he was being stabbed, just watching her in pain. He continued shouting, tugging furiously on the chains preventing him from stopping it.

"Screaming won't help Jack." Pitch called over his shoulder, his eyes still locked on Lyla, who was violently trying to pry his fingers off.

Pitch bashed her head against the concrete again and she parted her lips slightly, letting out a soundless scream. Jack winced as his hands began to bleed, but he couldn't stop. She was getting hurt, Pitch was the one hurting her. He couldn't even think of anything worse.

"Humans are so much more _fragile_," Pitch said, slamming Lyla's head against the wall again,"They're much easier to deal with, don't you think?"

Lyla made choked sounds of protest as her eyes flew open, blazing with fury, and she glared at Pitch. She caught Jack staring at her, and stared back at him. He felt an overpowering need to get Pitch away from her and keep her safe again, and he couldn't. Jack couldn't do anything, he was bloody and bruised and useless.

If only he had stayed away from Lyla, maybe she wouldn't be here. Maybe she would be safe somewhere, away from the horrible mess that was his existence. Maybe then everything would be okay.

But it wasn't, and it wasn't going to get better unless he did something.

Jack was screaming his head off, tears streaming down his face while he practically begged for Pitch to leave her alone. Every second was like a knife impaling his body, and desperation flowed through his veins. Lyla was so pale she looked dead, and Pitch's expression displayed how the lunatic was in seventh heaven.

"_I wonder why he's so obsessed with you_." Pitch leaned over and whispered into Lyla's ear, making her squirm even more. Jack could barely hear what they were saying but he could have sworn Lyla had told the devil to _go to hell_.

_Again_, one of the many reasons why he loved her.

Suddenly Pitch removed his hands from Lyla's neck, but she didn't move, she was still pinned to the wall, clawing at her throat. Pitch turned around, smiling at him sadistically.

"Do you like my new trick Jack? I can do lots of new things now, thanks to you." Pitch said, walking over and standing next to him. Jack stared at him desperately, wanting more than anything for Pitch to leave her alone.

Pitch roughly yanked on a handful of his hair, making Jack cry out in pain, and tilted his head back.

"You have _no idea_ how much I enjoy seeing you like this." Pitch spoke quietly in his ear, making Jack tremble violently. His head was forced back down with a jerk, and Pitch's sharp fingernails dug into his jaw, making him watch Lyla while she was seconds away from suffocating.

"Get a good, long look at her _boy_, cause that's all you're going to get." Pitch said coldly, reopening the cuts on Jack's chin. He felt more tears sting in his eyes from the pain, and then he was blinded as the world exploded around him.

* * *

**NO! THE WORLD DID NOT ACTUALLY EXPLODE! Cause I know that someone thought that. Even though it sounds weird, it'll make sense later.**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :)**


	41. Chapter 41

**Filler chapter? WHAT? _Me_? No. _Of course_ not. ;) I'm not sure if it's a good chapter or not... I actually am pretty nervous/insecure about it... (FREAKING OUT) But anyways, please review! Trust me, the next chapter will be better! I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, but I'm still in Kentucky!**

**Also, does anyone know any really good violent ROTG Fics that I should read? CAUSE I CAN'T FIND ANY! :( I guess that's why I tried tI write one.**

**12 REVIEWS! YAY! LOVE YOU ALL! 3**

**(SHOUTOUTS)**

**WitchesBrew2: AWWW! That is what came out of my mouth while I read your review! I also loved it when you said "I also love the love birds being forced to ****be apart when with all there heart they will always find a way to be together." cause I made another AWWW noise! :)**

**Writing Rules: Even though I love you in a Fanfiction Author/Reader kind of way, I cannot answer your question. Sorry! ;) And you're British? THAT'S SO COOL & I'm glad that I fixed your day! :)**

**Neusuada: Your eagerness for Pitch to die makes me so happy! DIE YOU BASTARD! ...sorry I got carried away. ;)**

**dancingcartoon: ha Ha HA! YOU ARE SO SMART CHICA! :D And LOL Pitch and B*tch do rhyme! He he he...**

**guardianofartbravery: LOL thank you for reviewing! :)**

**chocykitty: Thank you for your reviews! They meant a lot to me! :D**

**(GUEST SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Pearl99: OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH! :D**

* * *

**CHAPTER 41:**

Tooth had never seen a place so dark and creepy in her entire life. The room was huge with only a few cracks of daylight seeping through the ceiling, and there were monstrous cages hanging from the roof. There was no sound except for the fluttering of Babytooth's wings and her own, and the emptiness made her on edge. Tooth gazed up at the cages in horror, and gulped when she wondered if Jack could be in one of them. She quickly flew upwards and searched through all of them, but every single one was empty. She frowned, she was glad that Jack wasn't trapped in one of the cages but also discouraged since they had no clue where he was. Babytooth chirped next to her, informing her that they should search someplace else in the underground cavern. Tooth nodded and they lowered back onto solid ground just as the other Guardians caught up, sounding out of breath.

"Tooth! Did...you...find anything?" North asked, panting. Bunnymund and Sandy had noticed the cages right away, and were staring up at the ceiling in shock. Bunnymund shook his head and scowled.

"That's just disturbing mate. I think once I get my hands on that freak of nature I'm gonna..." Bunny's sentence trailed off and Sandy nodded in agreement, clenching his fists and looking just as enraged with Pitch.

"We have to find them first." North stated, averting his eyes a returning his attebtion to Tooth, his expression determined.

"We didn't find anything in here, Babytooth says we should search further." Tooth said, and her friends reacted the same way she did, relieved but disappointed that they were no where closer to finding Jack. North nodded thoughtfully, and Sandy scrunched his eyebrows.

"Well then lets get going!" Bunnymund said, still worked up.

"Wait. We can't just run around without any idea of where Jack could be." North said, and Tooth could see the gears turning in his head. Her mind sparked, and her eyes widened.

"Or else we would get lost, and probably never find him. That's the point, isn't it?" she said to herself, her voice rising with every word. She glanced up at her fellow Guardians, and they seemed to have realized the truth in what she had spoken.

"Well then what do you suggest we do?" North asked finally, and they all stated at her expectantly. She felt her confidence begin to fade, she had never been the leader, that had always been North's job. But them Babytooth came and fluttered besides her head, giving her a chirp of encouragement. Tooth took a deep breath, and began to think.

"Well...if we're supposed to get lost... then wouldn't we be heading in the opposite direction of where Jack is?" she announced allowed, her thoughts spinning.

"Where would Jack be anyway?" Bunnymund asked, sounding frustrated.

"At the bottom. Where it's the darkest." North sounded far away as he said this, and she had never heard him sound so... dark. It scared her, knowing that the situation was so bad that the second happiest person she knew was breaking under the pressure.

"Alright then, to the bottom of the hole it is!" Bunnymund broke through the silence, shoving past them, eager to find Jack before it was too late.

If it wasn't already too late.

**Jamie:**

Whenever Jamie made a wish, it seemed to come true. When he had wished for an older brother, he got Jack, who was even better. When he wanted proof that the Guardians were real, he got it. Now, when he wished he was invisible so the Guardians couldn't spot him and send him back home, his wish had been granted.

He had followed the Guardians through the woods and down into the dark hole, stepping only a few inches behind North. But that hadn't noticed him at all, so he just assumed that he was invisible. Maybe he was like Jack now, maybe he could be a Guardian too. The thought brought a slight smile to his face, but the scary passageways that they were traveling through crushed his happiness, and he grew more afraid with each tentative step.

Was Lyla really here too? Had she found Jack already? Was Jack here? Was he okay? Jamie couldn't bear to imagine Jack being anything except okay, and he started shaking.

That was when an explosion filled the air, and the Guardians sprinted in a new direction, and Jamie followed close behind.

**Pitch:**

Fear was usually heavy, it was such a powerful emotion that it sunk through the atmosphere, flooding the room with liquid terror. Fear had always been this way, he had never experienced it differently, until he had the horrible opportunity to encounter Jack Frost, the one person he hated the most.

He hated him, loathed him, and ever since a year ago when he had been banished back into the shadows by the Guardians, Pitch had daydreamed about wringing the brat's skinny little neck. It was Jack's fault that he wasn't ruling the world, that he didn't have any power, and that the Guardians had survived. Pitch had been so close, so _so_ close, but then the rotten pest had to ruin everything.

_Everything_.

But then out of the blue, Pitch had gotten a nice little gift, a glass of fear had dropped in, and it tasted better than anything else in the world. The fear wasn't heavy, it floated in the air, fueling him with pure power. He had known instantly that he would do anything to get more, but he hadn't realized that it would come with a bonus.

The best fear in the world was indeed radiating off of his least favorite child, and so in result, Pitch was getting a double package. Revenge and ultimate power, and all he had to do was torture a pathetically weak teenage boy.

Every time that Frost got scared, it was like a battery had been plugged into Pitch, giving him the ability to plague a hundred children with nightmares, giving him even more strength. It was a constant cycle, always ending in more and more power.

Pitch would never, _ever_, admit to himself that he was addicted to fear, especially Jack's fear, because then he would be afraid of running out.

Besides, at the moment he was receiving enough fear to last him a lifetime, since Jack seemed more concerned with the welfare of the human girl than his own. Frost was screaming muffled protests from across the room, and it sounded so wonderful. Almost like music, Pitch could listen to it all day long.

Unfortunately... the boy's stupidly persistent friends had found them, and he was getting tired of leading them in the wrong direction. He had more important things to focus on. Such as controlling his fury at the human for blasting him through a wall.

Sure, it hadn't caused him any pain, he was too powerful for that, but it had shocked him quite a bit. Besides, the fact that everyone seemed to believe that he could be destroyed so easily... ha. Their ignorance was pathetic. They couldn't stop him. Not this time.

Pitch returned to reality and realized that the amount of resistance coming from the girl had decreased, and he wondered why Jack was so fascinated with her. He couldn't see anything extra special about her that would allow her manipulate the boy so easily, but of course Jack had always been naive. He had so many weaknesses, fears, dozens of soft spots that were easily accessible, and the girl, Lyla, was just another one of them.

Pitch tightened his grip on her neck and leaned in, whispering near the side of her head.

"I wonder why he's so obsessed with you..." he asked loud enough to be heard over Jack's yelling, "What did you do to get him triggered like that?" he smiled, the slightest bit interested. In only a short amount of time the boy had begun to need Lyla as much as Pitch needed fear to survive.

"Just think about how upset he's going to be once you're gone..." he smile widened at the thought, he could almost taste the delicious terror on his tongue.

"Go...to...hell." she muttered, and Pitch was on the verge of laughing. She was almost as entertaining as Frost.

"I'm already there sweetheart." he whispered bitterly, and then backed away, watching with satisfaction as his powers allowed him to keep strangling her with his hands free.

Pitch turned around and finally got to glance at Jack, who looked like he was about to die from desperation. The boy unconsciously tensed up when Pitch stared at him. That was what he was after, the automatic fear.

"Do you like my new trick Jack? I can do lots of things now, thanks to you." Pitch smirked at him, feeling pride in his accomplishments. He had managed to break the unbreakable child, and gotten a little bit of fun out of it as well.

Pitch yanked on the boy's hair and relished in the cry of pain the followed, before forcing Frost's head back down. Jack was staring at the girl with tears in his eyes, and Pitch smirked, knowing that he was the cause of the pain. Blood dripped down the side of the boy's white face, and then Pitch's joy was ruined.

The door was swung open and he had a half second to send the Guardians a death glare before an explosion of color knocked him off his feet. He scowled, and instead of pain he only felt fury. He was ready to maul something, they were here to try and ruin his fun.

_As if_ Pitch would let them.

* * *

**...Is it okay? I'm worried that it isn't...FREAKING OUT ONCE MORE! Don't worry, the next one will be better. :) PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :)**


	42. Chapter 42

**11 REVIEWS! I love you all so much! Keep it up! I am STILL on vacation and visiting my family until 7/20/13, so that's why I haven't been able to update much! SORRY! I am super excited about this story...I am almost at the good part...he he he... ;)**

**Follow me on Instagram: Lyla_Bennett**

**Check me out on Wattpad: MoonGirl1155**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**guardianofartbravery: I'm sorry that I've kept you waiting, thank you for reviewing! :)**

**dancingcartoon: HA HA HA your review made me laugh in a diabolical form, which is terrible but you are going to get hurt. Seriously, please don't go into cardiac arrest in the future while reading this story. And yes, JAMIE IS THE MOST PRECIOUS THING ON EARTH! I love him so much! It would be a shame if anything were to happen to him... (maniacal laugh)**

**FirefliesGlowInTheDark: LOL thanks for all the hugs! And I like your new pen name, it's so cool! :)**

**(GUEST SHOUT-OUTS)**

**SunGirl: I apologize for my grammar issues, tell Fred and George I said hi.**

**nellie: Lol thank you for reviewing! I greatly appreciate it!**

**ohmygods: Thank you! I am so glad that you think that my story is one of a kind! :D**

**Pearl99: LOL thanks! I am so glad you love this story because for the longest time I thought I was such a dork for writing this! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 42:**

Tooth didn't have enough time to process what she saw when they busted open the door, before Bunnymund threw an egg bomb at Pitch's head, sending two bodies flying across the room in opposite directions. Pitch vanished, but Tooth watched in horror as the bloodied form of her friend was flung into the right wall with a loud thud.

Toothiana raced forward, landing and kneeling down by Jack's side. Just a glance at his state made her hand fly to her mouth, and she held back a scream. Gashes and wounds covered every visible inch of his body, and blood dripped from his face.

"Oh _Jack_..." she whispered, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. His eyes carefully fluttered open, and once she saw the emptiness that captivated them her heart broke. They had all grown to love Jack as if he was their family, but she had recently begun to think of him in a different way. Tooth would blame listening to all of her fairies swooning over his perfect teeth for the reason behind her developing crush, but she knew that it was something different. Jack was the funniest, kindest, most selfless person she had ever met, and knew that she could never live without him. She would rather watch him love someone else than watch him in pain, she knew that now. She would do anything to protect him, just like all of the Guardians. They had all been worried sick about him getting hurt since day one, he was the youngest of them after all, and now her worst fears had come alive.

"Hey...Tooth..." Jack gave her a weak smile, before he disappeared.

Tooth's eyes widened with shock, and cruel laughter echoed throughout the room. She whipped her head around to find that Jack had someone winded up in a headlock, and was desperately struggling to get out of it.

"_PITCH_!" she shouted furiously, rushing towards them only to get blocked off by a wall of black sand. The laughter continued and she glared at Pitch with a fire burning in her eyes, and her friends came to stand besides her.

"Well, it looks like everyone decided to show up," Pitch sneered, glaring at all of them with contempt,"_Finally_, we can have a little _fun_."

**Jack**:

They were _here_. _Actually here_. Jack wasn't sure if he should be extremely happy or depressed, but either way his mind was a whirlwind of emotions that he couldn't control. Shock pulsed through his veins...a part of him had come to believe that he would never see them again. But he had been wrong.

Tooth was gazing at him with extreme concern, and he wished that he could wipe her worried expression away. What was she so worried about anyway? He couldn't remember, his head hurt so much from colliding with the wall...

Jack gave her a small smile, trying to calm her down, but then he felt something wrap around his ankle, and before he could react he was dragged out from under Tooth and the world was spinning. It was spinning so much that he couldn't concentrate on anything at all, and his heat throbbed with searing pain from the movement.

He could hear screaming in the back of his mind but he ignored it, his skull ached and all he wanted was for it to stop. Something that resembled an iron bar curled itself tightly around his neck and cutting off his air. His eyes flew open, signals of pain forwarding to his brain. He clawed weakly at it, but it wouldn't let go of him.

"Well, it looks like everyone decided to show up," a familiar voice spoke very close to his head, and Jack felt his heart drop, everything coming back into full focus. His family was staring at him in horror, and he wanted them to stop. He wanted everything to stop, because now he remembered where he was.

"_Finally_, we can have a little _fun_." Pitch said slyly, and Jack felt the arm tighten around his throat, making him wince and begin to struggle. Tooth visibly tensed up at this, and she glared at Pitch with a ferocity that he had never seen before.

"Pitch, if you touch him I _swear_ I'll-"

Dark and unforgiving laughter filled the room, and the idea of trying to bite Pitch's arm came to his mind. Jack considered it for a moment, but his arm was too far away.

_Dang it._

"I think it's a little late for that _fairy_." Pitch replied mockingly, and the other Guardians looked like they were ready to tear him to pieces.

"Let him go." North commanded, and Pitch smirked, tightening his hold on Jack ever so slightly, which made black spots cloud his vision and he cried out in pain. He started writhing around, trying to escape. A string of curses flew from Bunnymund's mouth, but Pitch cut them off.

"I know you're all _overly fond_ of your little _pet_, but I'm afraid that I can't let you borrow him." Pitch said, and Jack's eyes opened again, the world spiraling, and he glanced across the room, remembering something that he had completely forgotten about. Or _someone_.

Lyla was on the ground, looking nearly dead, but she was still visibly breathing. But what surprised him the most was that he saw Jamie next to her, shaking her shoulder and trying to get her to wake up. What on earth was _he_ doing here?

A rough, bony hand gripped his face, redirecting his focus by twisting his head around, so that he was facing the psychopath that had hurt him in the first place. Jack glared at Pitch with all the energy he could muster, which wasn't much. Pitch dug his fingers into the side of Jack's face, tilting his head up like he was examing it..

"I've grown quite _attached_ to him lately." Pitch told the Guardians without removing his eyes from the blood coating Jack's face, and Jack scowled at him with as much anger he could summon.

"That's it." he heard Bunnmymund say, and seconds later a boomerang whizzed through the air, aimed for Pitch's face. It was a millisecond from colliding with his head, but then Jack was dropped to the floor. He moaned, spots clouding his vision as pain rippled through his body.

"You really thought that would work? You people are even more pathetic than I thought." Pitch said coldly, and Jack's eyes fluttered open to find a mass of black sand swirling around them, coming off of Pitch, who was holding the curved stick in his hand tauntingly.

Suddenly Pitch turned his head around sharply and gave him a wicked grin, and dread formed in his stomach. His eyes widened and he wanted more than anything to back away, but he was frozen. He couldn't have moved an inch, even if he wasn't broken into pieces. Pitch smirked, stepping closer to him as his heart pounded inside of his chest.

"So _boy_, which one of your friends should I kill first?"


	43. Chapter 43

**I keep on getting death threats because people believe that I intend to harm Jamie.**

**Hmmm...**

**NO COMMENT! XD I am such a cruel person :P**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Thecreativesoul: OMG u c me on Instagram! Yay! What is ur username? Please don't tell me ur it's_jackfrost or I will die.**

**FirefliesGlowInTheDark: Yes I know I am a terrible cliffhanger person...I am doing it again in this chapter 2 btw. ;)**

**Sungirl12: no comment**

**ohmygods: Thank you! And yes I think that I have already gone insane from writing this story...I mean come on I have a Lyla RP on instagram for crying out loud. How more insane can I get?**

**guardianofartbravery: I am afraid that this chapter will make you very unhappy and that you will be obliged to threaten me again. Sorry.**

**dancingcartoon: I am glad that you are concerned for Jamie's well being, I am too... ;)**

**katz908: PLEASE DONT DIE! I know the suspense is killing you but please survive! :)**

**(GUEST SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Insomniac: Thank you! I am so glad that you love my writing, story, and OC! It means so much to me! :)**

**pearl99: Do you think I should do an Epic fanfic? Idk what 2 do...**

**Rascal: I am glad that I summoned your feels...not matter how weird that sounds! XD** :) **And OH MY LORD YOUR LETTER WAS GORGEOUS! And I agree with you, the characters are being quite stupid sometimes, (aka Lyla and Jamie thinking they can fight Pitch) and PITCH IS A BASTARD! Here is your beautiful letter for all to read and agree with:**

_**To:Pitch Black-From:Your WORST Nightmare**_

_**Dear Mr. Bastard,**_

_**Here's a map to a hole in death valley with 10000 rattlesnakes inside, please,**_

_**go visit them, they would love you for dinner. I keep on having these terrible**_

_**DAYDREAMS(ugh) of me stuffing your shirt with dynamite and blasting you until**_

_**there's nothing left. I only wish it could actually happen.**_

_**GO BURN UP IN THE SUN,**_

_**Rascal.**_

* * *

**CHAPTER 43:**

Lyla's aunt desperately needed to purchase a new couch, because it was as hard as rock and freakishly uncomfortable to sleep on. She felt someone shake her shoulder roughly and she groaned, wanting them to leave her alone. She was extremely exhausted and just needed to sleep in for once. But the person was persistent, and wouldn't go away.

"Lyla! Lyla wake up!" Jamie yelled, sounding panicked. She chose to ignore him, she had a long week, and could afford to sleep for awhile longer. Her cousin could wait for her to make breakfast.

"Lyla!" Jamie sounded afraid and she reluctantly cracked her eyes open, he couldn't be that hungry, could he? The world came into focus and she realized that she wasn't on her Aunt's couch, and she certainly wasn't at Jamie's house.

"Oh _shit_." she muttered, rubbing her forehead and pulling herself up on her elbows. Jamie was staring at her, an expression of terror on his face, and she instantly began to freak out.

"What the _hell_ do are you doing here!" she said harshly, a million horrible images flashing through her mind. She had almost died and now her younger cousin was in this too?

"I...I came to help." Jamie said quietly, and she sighed, realizing that her panicking wasn't going to help.

"You have to get out of here, now!" she ordered, scrambling to her feet, scanning the room for an exit. But the room seemed to be completely sealed, except for a Pitch-sized hole in the wall across the room.

Well, maybe that could work...if there wasn't a huge fight happening in the center of the room that would require a miracle to get through.

A full out war had broken out between Pitch and four other people, one of them who she recognized as the Tooth Fairy. Giant black horses with razor sharp teeth were charging at them, and swords and bombs and everything imaginable was flying in rebound. They were all trying to reach Jack, who was lying at Pitch's feet, too weak and wounded to move. Her heart caught in her throat when she saw him, and she suppressed every internal instinct to keep from running towards him. She didn't move, she had to get Jamie out of here first, he was her top priority now. Maybe. Probably. Ugh!

Lyla grabbed Jamie's arm and was wracking her brain for a plan, when all of a sudden he screamed.

One of the black horses came charging at them, but before it could chew off her cousin's head, she pointed at it and blasted it with a surge of blue light from her ring. Instantly the creature vanished, dissolving into black dust. She stared at it in awe, her heart pounding heavily, and Jamie clutched her hand, squeezing it tightly. She turned around and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't be scared Jamie, alright? Just don't be afraid." she said, and he nodded, a determined look overcoming his terrorstricken face.

"Alright," she sighed,"Now just follow me."

The minute she turned back around another one of the black horses had noticed them, and she ran forward tugging on Jamie's arm, and exploded it before it could even come close. Adrenaline pumped through her veins and the ring on her finger heated up, but she couldn't even feel it, she just kept running, destroying any of the evil creatures that got in her way.

In truth, she was kinda enjoying herself, blowing up Pitch's stuff.

Jamie was exerting himself to keep up, but she could have carried him if she had too, she felt so strong at the moment. How...she had no idea. She had just been nearly unconscious earlier. Her best guess was the ring, and the fact that the lives of the people she loved depended on her helping get everyone out.

The four people, who she assumed were the other Guardians, seemed to be winning against Pitch, and got closer to Jack with every second. All the while they were almost across the room, and she could see the hole that she was going to take Jamie through, just as soon as the Guardians had Jack.

_Closer, closer, closer._

Blood rushed in her ears, and she jumped over a golden rope that smacked into one of the horses, pulling Jamie up with her, and the both floated in mid-air for a second, and then her feet slammed against the stones and she was running again. Jamie was panting heavily and she was too, but she couldn't stop.

Suddenly a bloodcurdling scream rang in her ears, terrifying her deep into her bones, and she stopped abruptly, jerking her head towards the source of the sound.

Before she could react a wall of sand smashed into her, causing her to release her hold on Jamie, and go flying across the room. She crashed into the wall near the hole/exit, and she bit her lip, pain shooting through her body. She heard multiple voices shout her name, and she opened her eyes, slowly pulling herself to her feet.

"_Oh my god_." she thought, her eyes widening to the size of the moon itself as she watched Pitch step towards Jamie, and just as she screamed her cousin's name sand collided with his body, sending Jamie flying through the air.

* * *

**Sorry for the bad chapter...I don't think I did a good enough job...but don't worry! The next one contains an atomic bomb... He he he...**


	44. Chapter 44: Fading Light

**I haven't been getting as many reviews lately...am I doing something wrong?**

**PLEASE READ&REVIEW!**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Moongirl847: Yes, I do believe that would be a great place to put an atomic bomb.**

**guardianofartbravery: LOL! I am glad that you feel...passionately for your hatred towards Pitch, he is a bastard. End of story.**

**iMusicMonstrosity: Thank you! I'm sorry that I made you stay up until 3 in the morning...**

**FanFicCriTicTheThird: Thank you for reviewing, and no, I will not hold the chapter ransom again.**

**FirefliesGlowInTheDark: Yes I know, I'm evil. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! But if I get to meet Jack...Hmm...sounds legit. XD**

**(GUEST-SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Pearl99: CALM DOWN! Don't kill my reviewers please! Besides, most of their threatening was towards Pitch anyways. And I am thinking about an Epic fic...**

**A/N: So...this chapter was hard for me. I don't know if it is good enough. I cried every time I reread it. The next few chapters are going to make me cry too.**

**WARNING: may cause a heart attack cause of feels (I hope)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 44:**

Everything was spinning, and the ground was just so, so soft. His head hurt so much that he wanted to just fall asleep and have one of Sandy's good dreams, instead of more nightmares. He wished the could fall asleep and then, when he woke up, everything would be okay. He would be back home with the Guardians and the Bennett's, and he could have a snowball fight with Jamie and see Lyla every single day. Everything would be perfect, and he wouldn't have any more wounds or bruises or nightmares.

There wouldn't be anything left of Pitch for him to be afraid of.

Jack didn't move and was completely content with watching all of the bright blue colors flash through the room, it was beautiful, almost like fireworks. He just stared into space blankly, the glowing lights reflecting in his eyes, and nothing processed through his brain anymore, he just couldn't think straight.

But a part of him recognized that the lights looked familiar, kinda like...

"_Lyla_." he realized, and tried to focus on the next explosion of color, and saw Lyla and Jamie attacking a nightmare. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, she never stopped impressing him.

"Don't get too excited boy." Pitch snarled quietly, glaring across the room at Lyla and Jamie with an intensity that scared Jack to death. He couldn't let Pitch hurt his friends, his family...

"D...d-don't h-hur-rt-" his voice was so shaky that he could barely understand himself, and mumbling even a few words exhausted him. Something kicked him in the stomach, causing blood to clog his mouth, and he released an ear-splitting scream. The sound vibrated his skull, echoing through his mind, and when he finally opened his eyes he saw Lyla smash into a wall and Jamie staring in his direction, looking utterly terrified.

Pitch stepped out from behind Jack, nearing Jamie, and alarm bells rang in his mind. Jamie was the first human who had ever been able to see him, his first believer, the last light. Jamie was his best friend...no, he was more than that. Jamie was considered to be a part of his family, he was like his younger brother. Jack felt inclined to protect him, and would do anything to keep him safe. If anything were to happen to Jamie...Jack couldn't even finish the thought. Jack felt an overwhelming urge to guard him, and pulled himself up onto his elbows, ignoring the pain that surged through him from the movement.

But it was too late,

A spiral of black sand was shot at Jamie, and Jack screamed out his name, terror consuming him. No, not Jamie, no no no...

Jamie slammed up against the wall and fell to the ground, unmoving. Pitch began laughing maniacally and spun around, giving him a cruel smile. Jack began trembling violently, and then he heard more shouting.

"_YOU SON OF A B*TCH_!" Lyla screamed, standing up and running towards them, her eyes blazing with fury at what Pitch had done. She was within five feet when her ring lit up, but then the entire universe began to slow down.

Pitch was still facing him, and a horrifying gleam filled his eyes, and Jack watched in terror as a long, slender knife of black sand formed in his fingers. Lyla was almost right next to them, and her entire arm had become blue, and she looked as if she was going to strangle Pitch with her bare hands. She probably could if she set her mind to it, and if Pitch wasn't about to-

Everything clicked in his mind and Jack's eyes widened, and then his biggest fear came to life.

"_NO_!" he screamed as Pitch turned around, and the knife went flying, and it impaled her in the chest with a heart shattering thud. An expression of complete and utter surprise filled her face, and she stood in that one spot, wavering slightly. She gazed at Jack, her eyes wide with shock, and tears filled her irises as she glanced down at the knife in her chest. With trembling fingers she gripped onto the bloody handle and ripped it out, gasping with pain. Red carnage dripped down the front of her shirt and coated her hands, and she gazed at the knife with an unreadable expression. She released it and the metal clanged against the floor, and she collapsed onto the ground.

Jack somehow managed to muster what had to have been superhuman strength, and he ran the short distance between them, kneeling down next to her onto the amber covered tiles. His entire body shook and tears streamed out of his eyes, and she grabbed his hand, pulling it to her chest, giving him a small smile.

"I love you." she said, and he shook his head, this couldn't be happening. Not now, not ever. She didn't deserve to die. He had lived 317 years and had seen many people die way too young, and she didn't need to be one of them. 17 years wasn't long enough, not for anyone. Not for her.

"No, _please_-"

"I...I'm sorry Jack. Take care of Jamie for me." she said, and droplets of water leaked out of her diamond eyes.

"You're not g-going anywhere, you're going to be f-fine, just hold on-" she reached her other hand up and stroked the side of his face, shushing him. She gazed at him in pure silence for a while, her body twitching as things began to slow down, and then spoke.

"You're right. I don't even need to go to heaven, I already have an angel." she whispered, her voice catching in her throat.

"Jack, you've given me...more than anything I could ever ask for, you make me feel like...like I'm _special_, and I want you to know...that I l-love you." she said, and sobs wracked through his body.

Lyla smiled up at him, and then her head slowly fell back, and the last bit of light left her eyes. She stared at him with glassy irises. There was a beautiful smile on her face, and it sickened him. Her eyes were dead and blank, and he couldn't stand to see them anymore. Jack took his fingers, slowly closing her eyelids.

Maybe he could lie to himself, pretend that she was asleep.

Jack didn't breathe anymore, he didn't want to anyway. Because just like that, Lyla Bennett was dead.

* * *

**Guys I am crying so freaking hard right now I haven't cried this hard since my boyfriend broke up with me, which was a year ago. But here it is, the atomic bomb. :,,,,,( [[[[crying my eyes out]]]]]**

**Jack is beautiful. That is the simplest way to put it. His mind, body, and soul...beautiful. He doesn't deserve any of this. I don't know why...why I do this to him. P.S. It's only going to get worse.**


	45. Chapter 45: Fault

**17 REVIEWS! You guys must really love me... 3**

**I am not going to tell you ANYTHING, since I don't want to give away any spoilers. Sorry. Your overall reaction scared me and made me happy at the same time. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! XD**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**FanFicCriTicTheThird: Yes, I am a very cruel person :P and I have noticed how all ROTG fics are extremely angsty. It's probably cause Jack is like, the definition of Angst. Look it up in the dictionary, and next to the word you'll see a picture of his face.**

**guardianofartbravery: "DAMN LIFE!" ha ha ha you made me laugh! Yes...Pitch is at the top of my murder list as well. :)**

**dancingcartoon: I am SO GLAD that you said my writing is powerful, that was like my favorite line in all of the 17 reviews I have received for this chapter! Yes I know...we should really cut Pitch...but don't worry, what goes around comes around... #_#**

**chocolate1999: IKR! (((finally another Jalyla shipper XD))) but no seriously thanks for reviewing!**

**FirefliesGlowInTheDark: I would be good at writing horror stories? Huh. And I can't tell you anything...sorry. But thank you for reviewing! :)**

**(GUEST-SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Pearl99: I'm sorry that this story made you cry in the bathroom so long that your family had to come find you, I am also very touched that you care about my story that much! Yes, that was my Drama Bomb. I love them so much...but don't worry, I was crying SO SO SO hard when I was writing that chapter.**

**Bunny: Thank you! :D**

* * *

**CHAPTER 45:**

Jack stared into space, sitting on the floor, and no thoughts were able to pass through his mind. He was completely empty, there was nothing left inside of him, and it was like he wasn't even there. Like he didn't exist.

He had felt this emotion for three hundred years, and had grown accustomed to it. He hadn't believed that there was anything better for him...but then he had found it, happiness, with the Guardians, with Jamie, with Lyla. He had almost forgotten the aching void planted inside of his soul, but now it was back, and had consumed every part of him. He was hollow, the pain was even worse this time, and he began to doubt if he was real. Maybe he was just imaginary.

He didn't want it to be real. He wanted to wake up and have all of this vanish. He wanted it more than anything else in the world...

His shoulders shuddered and the rest of his body began shaking violently, the shock coursing freshly through his veins.

Jack had just watched the person he loved most _die_.

Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes, leaving frozen streaks down the sides of his face, and his chest burned with a new kind of pain. He was crying harder than he ever had before, his breathing short, and he lifted up his blood soaked hands, gazing at them in horror. Human blood wasn't cold like his own, it was warm, almost boiling, and left festering blisters on his flesh. He wanted to wipe her blood away, and grabbed onto his hair, desperate to make it stop.

"How does it feel, Jack?" Jack could feel a tall shadow bending over him and he glared at the wall, anger boiling up inside of him. Pitch did this, Pitch did everything, Pitch was the one who stabbed her-

He spun around, water stinging in his eyes as he scowled at Pitch with an intense hatred that could never be outmatched. Pitch seemed unfazed, more so amused by his reaction, and smirked at him, leaning in closer.

"Does it hurt, having everything taken away from you?" Pitch asked coldly, and all of his fury washed away, quickly to be replaced by terror. He tried to look away, overcome by fear, but Pitch grasped onto his jaw, spinning his head around and locking it in place. Jack gritted his teeth, longing for the strength to try and escape, but gaining none.

"Now you know how it feels, _boy_. Now I've been able to do to you what you've done to me." Pitch sneered, continuing his lecture on revenge, his eyes dark and unforgiving.

"You and your friends took everything away from me, and now it's my turn to return the favor." he said, malice in his voice. Jack scrunched his eyes shut and gasped when Pitch's fingers dug too deep into the flesh on his cheeks, and instantly he was released. He crumpled to the floor and didn't bother getting up, and curled himself into a ball, covering his head with his hands. He just wanted to block it all out.

"It's all your fault you know," Pitch pointed out, and Jack cringed, trying to shut off the voice,"If it wasn't for you, no one would get hurt. You failed your friends, Jack. You failed all of them."

His eyes flew open, and the truth ringing in Pitch's taunting words hit him hard, and he started crying again. It was true, it was all his fault. The only reason Lyla was dead was because of him, and now everyone else was going to meet the sane fate because he couldn't protect them.

Jack watched as black spots clouded his vision, and nothing but pain and fear and nothingness was left in his mind as he finally blacked out for good.

* * *

**I apologize for the short chapter! I just wanted to end this chapter here. :) Don't worry, I think the next one will be longer.**


	46. Chapter 46: Another Time, Then

**This chapter is sad...of course you all already knew that. But it has a little bit of happy. OMG Just read it.**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Fellowship of Avengers: OMG YOU! *0* YOU GAVE ME LIKE A MOUNTAIN OF REVIEWS! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!**

**chocykitty: Blood...Gore...Death XD those are the things I do best! :)**

**dancingcartoon: Omg your reviews are the best I wish all of them were like yours! XD yes Jack is perfect, and I am sorry to keep you waiting! Thank you for reviewing! :)**

**Neusuada: No problem, have fun moving from Idaho to San Fran! :)**

**guardianofartbravery: OMG you made me laugh so hard with your Damn life review. XD thanks for reviewing!**

**domesticgold: The moon does everything for a reason...thanks for reviewing! :D**

**CammieSarah51: THX!**

**FirefliesGlowInTheDark: Officially longest review that I have ever gotten. And if you must know, I'm not really that old, I'm actually 13. Yeah, I know. Most of the good stuff that I've read is written by 16 year olds. And HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN THE LAST TIME I CRIED WAZ?! 0_0 you don't happen to go onto Instagram, do you? If so, what is your account? (((sorry if I am prying))) and I think I could write scary stuff, since apparently I am scaring the hell out of everyone by killing Lyla. Thank you for calling my writing professional, it means a lot to me! :)**

**(GUEST SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Sungirl12: I updated! You happy now? ;)**

**Guest: WAH! So many questions! Sadly, I cannot answer them.**

**ohmygods: OMG u r on Instagram? YAY! Can you tell me ur username? And thank you for reviewing! I'm sorry that you're drowning in your own tears...**

* * *

**CHAPTER 46:**

Tooth felt adrenaline rush through her veins as she sliced through nightmares with her razor sharp wings, punching and kicking, smashing anything in sight. Her fellow Guardians were fighting as hard as she was, with all of their might, and the number of enemies were quickly diminishing.

"_We're winning_." she realized, and a small smile played on her lips as she sawed a black horse in half, optimistic thoughts flowing through her mind. They were so close to reaching Jack, everything was going to be alright. She quickly glanced over at him, and then her smile dropped.

She stopped, her eyes wide as she gazed on in horror at the sight before her. The whole world seemed to disappear for a moment, and she forgot that she was in the middle of a war zone.

Memories filled her mind, memories that belonged to a little girl who's soul was slowly fading away.

_Parents screaming, a father running away, a mother crying. Abandoned. Years of feeling out of place. Staring into a mirror, wondering why she felt alone, why she felt like she was missing something in her life. Finding another girl with purple hair, laughing and playing. Snowflakes, pretty snowflakes, she had always been captivated by them. Loved them even. Singing the words that filled her mind, trying to find the right voice, the one that felt like her own. Smaller children, hugging them, consulting them. Growing up, and still feeling strange in her own skin. Bright lights, cold, white skin, and more snowflakes. Seemingly closer this time, and more beautiful. Holding onto something sturdy, trying not to fall, not wanting it to vanish. The glorious feeling of being wanted, knowing that this time she won't be abandoned by him, but fearing that one day he'll go away. Keeping that light seemed too unrealistic. The horrible truth of having the light separated, and running through the trees, trying to find the light again._

Blood.

_Pain. Holding onto cold skin, everything growing dark._

_'I love you' and then there was nothing but light and blood._

Lots, and lots, of blood.

Tooth started crying as she felt the last pieces of Lyla's memories slip away, and she watched as Jack's trembling hands were soaked with carnage, his entire body shaking from shock. It was horrible.

"Hey Tooth! Snap out of it!" Bunnymund yelled, chucking a boomerang at a nightmare that was charging at her, and then coming to stand bedsides her.

"_So much blood_..." she whispered, she had never seen so much come out of one person before. Bunny gave her a confused eyebrow raise and followed her gaze, and then saw what she was gaping at. Jack convulsing as his body shook from crying as he leaned over the lifeless body.

It was the Guardians duty to protect children. They always did, but had missed one this time.

"Holy..." her friend muttered, and they both stood there, almost as shocked as Jack.

All of a sudden Pitch materialized out of the shadows near Jack, and everything snapped back into focus. Tooth clenched her fists, fury boiling in her veins. She wasn't going to let him hurt her friend any longer.

Never again.

**Pitch:**

He watched in satisfaction while the little ice brat squirmed from his touch, struggling desperately, glaring at him with fearful eyes overflowing with tears. He dug his fingers into the gashes on the boy's face, and Frost cried out in pain, whimpering and clawing at Pitch's fingers. He just laughed and let go, and then the boy collapsed onto the floor, moaning softly.

It was quite pathetic, really, how damaged Jack had become over such a short period of time. Pitch had expected him to last much longer before reaching a breaking point, but apparently he had been wrong.

No, there was practically nothing left inside of the boy except for pain and fear, with a tad bit of hate. There was no joy or hope or any of the things that Pitch had worked so hard to drive out of him. Watching the human die had shattered any of the remains, and Pitch found himself smiling as he watched the boy cry until he passed out, shriveled up on the ground, blood soaking every inch of his body.

It made Pitch feel so good, knowing that he had done that.

"Get away from him!" a high voiced scream came from behind him, and he spun around slowly, knocking the fairy aside with the wave of a hand. She had always had anger management issues, such a pain.

Suddenly a new thought came to mind, and he ordered his sand to bring the fairy to him. She stood up and glared at him, but then a mass of nightmare sand wrapped around her, pulling her towards him. She didn't struggle and just gave him a fierce scowl, spewing swears from her mouth.

"Aren't you supposed to be setting an _example_ for the children Toothiana?" he smirked, and she grit her teeth. Her fury tasted so sweet, he had never noticed it before. Females' emotions were always more entertaining when they were angry. So much more fun.

"Aren't you supposed to be rotting in _hell_ you _bastard_?!" she spat, and he laughed. Jack sure knew how to pick fun friends.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, someone already took that spot in the underworld earlier today." Pitch replied, and then her eyes turned bright red. But then suddenly she smiled.

"I'm sure that we could find a place for you down there." she said evenly, and then all of the sand around her shoulders vanished, turning bright gold and blinding him for a moment. Something heavy collided with his face, and after a moment of confusion he opened his eyes.

_No_.

Pitch did _not_ like what he saw, not at all.

The Guardians were walking through a portal, and before he could react North stepped into the bright colors, carrying the unconscious body of Jack Frost with him.

Pure, boiling rage filled his blood and he ran towards them, ready to destroy them all for trying to take his toy away from him. Sandy went in next, holding the sleeping human boy, and then Tooth waved at him, smirking.

"Another time Pitch!" she called cheerily, before fluttering into the portal, and then the colors vanished.

He screamed with a maddening fury that would never end.

They took Frost, and they would _pay_.

* * *

**YAY! Omg I love Tooth so much right now! She can be badass funny when she gets mad! Don't mess with her! XD**

**Please please REVIEW! We are on the first page of Angst for reviews! Right below Tortured, which I read and made me cry BTW.**


	47. Chapter 47: Distraction

**2 UPDATES IN ONE DAY?! I must be feeling generous. :) Because we all know how cruel I am to you people.**

**The amount of reviews that I am getting for this story is AMAZING! Keep it up guys! Luv you! My minimum goal for the end of the story is to be 500 reviews... yeah, there's still a ton of chapters left. YAY!**

**THERE IS NO WAY TO DESCRIBE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! :D**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**FirefliesGlowInTheDark: YOU! You with your wonderfully long reviews! And OMG I'm OLDER than you?! Did not see that coming. And thank goodness you're not Physic. I tend to type things about crying when I'm emotional. And I think the reason 16 year olds write the more popular FanFics is because Jack Frost is highly attractive and they all have younger siblings...and most of them are bad anyway. Yesterday I read something where Jack Frost was turned into the Minotaur or something...0_0 yeah, it was crazy. And I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU LOVE MY STORY! All of the words that you used to describe it made me smile, thank you! And for the chapter:**

**1.) Pitch has no mental stability, so I don't think that there's any left to get checked. You're right, he shouldn't be saying anything about Tooth wanting to smash his skull open, he did just kill someone to hurt someone for his own ****amusement. Stupid Pitch...YOU MURDERED MY OC! Damn you! No, he was just thinking that cause...he's a lunatic.**

**2.) I laughed hysterically when I read, 'I mean it's like, the only kid down there is passed out on the floor,' because it's true! But no, he was just being a jerk and trying to get on her nerves. :)**

**3.) Yes, Lyla is still on the floor. Why? Because it allows me to make the story more interesting...and it makes SOMEONE pissed off. He he he...:)**

**CammieSarah51: You almost cried? (SUCCESS!) sorry, but my goal is to attack readers with feels. I'm sorry that I depressed you with my depressing story...but it's just a depressing sorry. And yeah...Lyla's body is still there...you told the future, SOMEONE is going to be pissed when he finds out.**

**domesticgold: LOL you are so right, we could definitely find a place for Pitch down there! XD**

**iMusicMonstrosity: XD you called her Layla *snicker* not but auto correct is evil. And yes, it is so sad that she is gone! I just am amazing a writing sad things... :(**

**Savarra: I UPDATED SOON! :D**

**Fellowship of Avengers: IKR! I hope they make Pitch pay as well... Anyways, thank you for reviewing! ((again!))**

**(GUEST-SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Sungirl12: You only know what happens because you live with me, you have to listen to me rant about this story, so please don't spoil it for everyone else. :)**

**WARNING: Jamie Bennett feels might cause cardiac arrest.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 47:**

Jamie gazed in wonder at the world around him.

Golden dream sand floated through the night air, lighting up the darkness, strings of it sneaking into other kids bedrooms, making them fall asleep. But he wasn't asleep, he was more awake than ever, flying on a cloud next to the Sandman.

His hometown looked so small from up here, and he leaned over the side, smiling, sticking his hand into the golden sand. Instantly snowballs and sleds and all of the fun things that Jamie loved surrounded him, and he laughed with joy, wishing that Jack was here with him to enjoy this-

Suddenly he remembered everything, and the giddy, careless feeling that he had before vanished entirely. Horrifying images flashed through his mind, Jack, Lyla, Blood, and he felt tears streaming down his face.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and he spun around to find Sandy giving him a comforting smile. Jamie wiped his eyes and looked up at him.

"Did everyone get out okay?" he asked, and Sandy hesitated for a moment, clearly thinking the obvious, but Jamie cut in.

"Well...everyone _else_." he asked again, his body trembling a little bit as he tried to block out the terrible thoughts. Sandy nodded in confirmation.

"Is Jack going to be okay?" he questioned, a little bit of hope sparking inside of him.

"_I think so_." Sandy motioned above his head, and Jamie nodded slowly, watching while the cloud slowly descended to the earth.

"Thanks Sandman...for the distraction." he said, and the golden man nodded, looking as if he wanted to cry but wouldn't because Jamie was here.

Jamie hopped off onto the ground, and then realized where he was. Red lights flashed and police cars crowded around his house, they must have thought they had gotten kidnapped.

_If only they knew._

Jamie began walking towards his front door, hoping to just slink up to his bed and dream about something happy, to take him away from all this. His shoulders ached from a weight that no one his age could handle, one that no one should ever have to handle. But a voice stopped him, one that called out his name.

"Jamie?" he lifted his head up and saw his Mom, gazing with him with deep concern, and then he let it all go. He ran to his Mom and she picked him up, and he hugged her as hard as he possibly could, sobbing so hard that his chest ached.

All the while, he could feel Sandy watching him, on the verge of crying that hard himself.

**Tooth:**

Tooth watched with glassy violet eyes as Yeti's stripped the maroon stained clothes away from Jack's chest, revealing large gashes and heavy layers of blood coating his skin. Below the endless red were huge purple welts across his stomach that made her heart did flips.

There was no way that any mortal could have survived that much pain, and she felt lucky that he wasn't a human. But than sympathized that he had been under enough torture to kill multiple people.

_Why_?

Why couldn't have Pitch taken another one of them? One of them that wasn't so young and innocent...one that hadn't suffered three centuries of mental torture anyway. Why couldn't she be in his place? He didn't deserve it, no one did, and she wished that she could just make it all vanish.

The Yeti's began to wash the blood away, revealing even more wounds, and Jack mumbled softly in his sleep. Earlier that day while they were rushing him to the infirmary at the Pole, he had suddenly started screaming like he was being murdered while he was unconscious, and before the nightmare could take control of his mind Sandy had submerged him in dream sand. Now, Jack was safe from nightmares for the time being.

He twitched slightly as white bandages and gauze were wrapped tightly around his torso, almost as if he was awake, and she bit her lip. Well, she hoped that he was safe. They couldn't see any form of sand above his head, but Sandy assured them that it was there.

She _hoped_.

Her fellow Guardians were watching as well, except for Sandy, who had left to return Jamie back home. They all held the same expression as she did, wondering when they would finally be done tending to his countless injuries. They never seemed to end.

Finally, after what felt like and what might have been hours, all of Jack's wounds had been tended too and the blood had been washed out of his snow white hair. With his white skin, bandages, and new clothes, he practically blended into the hospital sheets, and the way he didn't move made him resemble a corpse.

"Are you sure he isn't dead?" Bunny whispered to himself, and then realized that he had spoken aloud.

"I was thinking the same thing. Tooth, check pulse." North ordered, and she fluttered closer to the bed, nervous about what she would find. Cautiously, she pressed her fingers against his neck, which sent chills down her spine.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips, he was still alive, his heart still beating. Beating heavily, and then she heard his breathing, short and raspy. It scared her.

She had to calm down, he was probably fine, nothing from the heart monitor had picked up anything unusual-

That was when the screaming started.

* * *

**HAHAHA! For awhile I was worried that I wouldn't be able to torture you with another cliffhanger...but I found a way! :) I loved the part with Jamie...he is so precious! And I felt like I wasn't using Sandy enough in this story so I kinda added him too...yeah.**

**For anyone who was confused, Jamie was knocked out and Sandy carried him through the portal, and then flew him back home. Jamie didn't remember at first cause he got knocked out, but was still conscious when SOMEONE got stabbed. So...yeah. Don't yell at me for pointing out the obvious. I just didn't want anyone confused. :)**

**Ugh! I don't like writing in other people's points of view, it's not as fun! But I have to, since one is knocked out and the other one is dead :P**

**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**


	48. Chapter 48: Nightmares

**This chapter is short...sorry! Sorry for the wait also... :(**

**People have told me that I should write horror...I kinda did in this chapter. That's why it needs a warning.**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**iMusicMonstrosity: IKR?! Autocorrect is evil! [I write this story on my iPod]**

**guardianofartbravery: LOL! Ur review made me laugh... Check that, reviews. That was plural. THANK YOU! P.S I'm sorry I p*ssed you off...:)**

**Fellowship of Avengers: Yeah I know...poor Jamie T-T... and don't worry about him figuring something out, he will. Why? Because he's the perfect younger cousin/brother. :)**

**CammieSarah51**: **you said:'I would say update soon but you update everyday.'...yeah, sorry about not updating every day. And I know...poor Jamie. Everyone wants to know what he's going to tell the cops/his mom...he he he...**

**dancingcartoon: If you** **must know, I do know exactly what I'm doing. I've got this story down to a science. And are you a fortune teller? Cause you seem to catch onto my little details/foreshadowing pretty well. I like that. Yes, Jamie is a sweetheart and he has been through a lot at a** **young age, and Jack needs to hang on for Jamie. He he he... Please don't lose TOO much control of you're emotions when you read this story...wouldn't want you to hurt yourself in the** **near future... :)**

**FirefliesGlowInTheDark: I love your reviews. I really do. I don't know what would happen if you tried to give me a short one. Don't even try it cause I won't let you. And yes, I made Jamie watch. All** **of it. Because I'm evil. And I do believe that he is 10. And that kid has a major chip on his shoulder because his rolemodel was just damaged beyond repair and his cousin/big sister just died. Poor Jamie...T-T [who am I kidding I love Jamie angst!]**

**chocykitty: Yes, I am very subtle. *note sarcasm* But really, in the Internet world I am pretty upfront. And goriness is a key factor in any fanfiction I believe.**

**chocolate1999: We're the same age? Huh. And you said: 'luv ya! Don't know why I typed that.' LOL that made me laugh! XD**

**Neusuada: 0_0 I am worried about my health now. Thanks for reviewing! XD**

**ohmygods: I cannot tell you** **how many chapters are left...he he he...**

**SmileYouLiveLonger: OMG REALLY?! THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

**Hannah4793: You read all** **47 chapters in one day?! Wow...**

**(GUEST-SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Pearl99: All of your questions will be answered in this chapter and the next one.**

**smartperson11: OMG ITS YOU! *0***

**WARNING: Blood. Lots of it. ;)**

**BTW! This chapter is dedicated to: Pearl99, who recently lost a friend. LUV YOU! You're like my Jamie Bennett! BFF/RELATIVE FOREVER! 3**

* * *

**CHAPTER 48:**

Jack _knew_ that he was asleep, that he was trapped in the world of nightmares, no matter how hard Sandy's golden sand had tried to save him. He knew this just as well as he knew he was afraid, terrified even, that he was trapped in a dark room.

He hated tight spaces, chains, locks, anything that made him imprisoned, because that always meant pain, and pain always meant fear. And even when the physical bonds were gone they were still there in the form of fear. Fear's ropes never untied themselves, something that he knew better than anyone else.

The darkness was closing in on him and he pressed his body against the wall, closing his eyes, begging for it to leave him alone.

"Go away, please _please_ go away, please go away _go away_!" he wanted to start crying, and he felt like his heart was about to burst open from fright.

"Shssh...Shshh... it's going to be alright." something soft brushed away the few droplets of water that had leaked out if his eyes, and he cautiously opened them.

"L-_Lyla_?" his eyes widened, disbelieving. She couldn't be real, right? She was, she was...

"Shsh...it's okay. It's just me." she whispered, stroking the side of his face gently. Her hands were so warm-

"This isn't real." he said, trying to inch away. He was asleep, this couldn't be real, she was gone...

"Of course it is. I'm _real_ Jack." she attempted to convince him. He shook his head, she couldn't...no matter how much he wanted her to.

"How can I make you believe me?" she asked, tears breaking free from her bright blue eyes, streaming down her face. He didn't like watching her cry, even if she was real or not, it killed him to see her in pain.

"I-I...I don't know." he replied, and then she started smiling, leaning closer towards him. He didn't have anywhere to go and he was squished into the wall, and she pressed hands against his chest, and he didn't move.

Before he knew what was happening, she kissed him, and then it became impossible to believe she didn't exist, she felt exactly like Lyla did, and his heart started melting again, bringing him out of his frozen state. He slowly started kissing back until he felt like his soul was on fire.

He had missed her so much.

Suddenly she stopped.

"Jack?"

"Yeah Lyla..." his eyes were still closed, his mind spinning from lack of oxygen.

"It hurts."

His eyelids flew open and he saw her slowly back away from him, a giant hole mauled in the center of her chest. She gazed up at him with pale glassy eyes, and then stared down at his hands.

"You _killed me_." her voice was empty, it sounded like Lyla but not, and he saw the stake of metal that had magically appeared in his right hand.

"No...no," he started shaking his head, a pool of amber forming on the floor unbelievably fast, "I didn't hurt you, I didn't kill you Lyla that was Pitch-"

"_Liar_. You hurt me." blood was gushing out on her chest, spilling out onto the ground, and the liquid splashed at his feet.

"No Lyla I didn't, I _didn't_..." he started crying, he wanted to believe it, that this wasn't his fault. He wanted the blood to stop coming. He tried covering the wound with his hand, but it didn't stop, and he was sobbing. The endless red wouldn't stop and now it was past his knees, almost at his waist. He was going to drown.

"_Stop stop STOP_!" he screamed, then it spewed all over him when he blocked the hole, and he spit some out of his mouth.

"Failure." she told him, and hearing the word come out of her mouth, using her voice, stung.

"Worthless. Untrustworthy. Weak. Pathetic!" she continued, her eyes turning to black slits.

"_Stop it-!"_

"_I hate you_." she snapped, and then her body sunk into the chest deep waves of red.

"_LYLA_!" he screamed, and then something wrapped around his ankle, dragging him down into the blood.

* * *

**Short chapter...yeah. I just wanted this to have its own chapter. :P It's intense bro. People habe told me that I should write horror...does this count? **


	49. Chapter 49

**So...many...reviews! I'm buried in them! KEEP IT UP!**

**I can't believe that the next chapter is going to be 50...and trust me, it'll be perfect. ;)**

**LET'S SEE IF WE CAN GET TO 400 reviews by the time I update Chapter 50! That would be a dream come true! *0***

**Everyone has told me that I would be a great horror story writer...maybe I should try that. Thanks for all of the support guys! :)**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Sol and G'syr: Yes, that is a cry face. Thanks for reviewing! :D**

**Fellowship of Avengers: You said that we'll need serious happiness and fluff to make up for everything...who knows? (well I do, of course) Maybe this story will get cheerier someday...you got to have hope. :D**

**dancingcartoon: I don't know how I do it, writing this story just comes easy to me. Unfortunately writing anything EXCEPT for this story is experiencing a huge writers block...so yeah. You don't have to worry about a cease in updates anytime soon.**

**Innocentangel5500: You said: 'Its just cool to see someone turn a family story into a nightmare' huh. I've never thought about that before, that that would interest people. Thank you for pointing that out. :)**

**guardianofartbravery: I UPDATED SOON! :) And yeah...I feel bad for snowflake too. I would not want to be him.**

**chocykitty: OMG you smiled when you read the warning! :) That makes me very happy.**

**(GUEST-SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Pearl99: No problem, you're amazing and I'll always be there for you. :D *hugs***

**SunGirl12: I updated! But I think that you'll find this chapter boring. Sorry. Read it anyways!**

**ohmygods: YOU READ THE WHOLE THING IN A DAY AS WELL!? I'm so glad that this story has that kind of an effect on people! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 49:**

"_Please_..." Sandy's head perked up at the sound, and his eyes darted over to Jack, who was twitching slightly in his sleep. The boy had talked...but why? He didn't sound very happy...but as far as Sandy could tell wasn't having a nightmare. He couldn't spot any nightmare sand.

Sandy glanced at the others to see if they had noticed anything, but they seemed lost in their own little worlds. They were staring right at him! How could they not of seen his mouth moving?!

"_Please_..._go away_..._not real_..." Jack's voice was louder this time and his worry increased, and he began to make signs above his head, trying to get the other Guardian's to notice him. But they weren't paying attention.

Jack's facial features scrunched up in fear, and before Sandy was about to jump out in front of his friends, a heart wrenching scream tore from Jack's throat.

Well, at least the others were paying attention _now_.

His arms started moving wildly and everyone snapped out of it, with North and Bunny holding them down so he wouldn't open his injuries. But a second later his entire body started thrashing wildly from trying to be contained.

"Sandy! What's happening!?" Tooth asked frantically, and he formed a question mark above his head. He knew just as much about Jack's current condition as they did.

"Nightmare?" North questioned, and then the screaming got louder.

"_No! No! I didn't I didn't..._!" Jack shouted, wrenching his limbs away from their grasp and almost flinging his body off of the bed with an incredible surge of strength. Sandy and Tooth rushed over and grabbed his legs, and it took all four of them to keep him down. He could see red seeping through the white bandages as wounds split open, and tears dripped out of Jack's eyes from the pain.

"_STOP_!" he screeched, and Sandy felt sweat bead across his forehead as he fought to restrain their friend.

"Bloody hell _what_ is _wrong_ with him?!" Bunny shouted over Jack's screaming, frustrated.

"What are we supposed to do?!" Tooth asked him, and Sandy shrugged his shoulders, he had no clue. He couldn't sense a nightmare, couldn't see one, but Jack sounded like he was going through torture. Again.

"Maybe we should wake him up?" North suggested, and Sandy nodded, it sounded like a good idea to him. But how where they supposed to do that?

"_LYLA_!" his voice reached an octave that shocked everyone, and then all of the sound stopped. Jack started convulsing violently, his mouth closed. Sandy raised his eyebrows, confused. What was happening inside of his head?

"He isn't breathing mate." Bunny stated, and everyone stopped cold.

"W-_what_?" Tooth sounded like she was about to have a breakdown, barely containing the raging fire inside.

"He's holding his breath." Bunny continued, and almost instantly the thrashing ceased.

"This isn't good..." North muttered, and suddenly Tooth let go of Jack's leg and flew across the room. No one watched her go, and Sandy stared at Jack intensely, searching for a place that the nightmare could be hiding from him...

"Tooth is the only one who would do CPR right? Cause I'm not. Just pointing that out right now mate." Bunny commented, and Sandy glanced at the clock on the wall. Jack couldn't hold his breath that long, right? He couldn't suffocate himself...hopefully.

"I don't hear pulse." North stated, and panic flared in Sandy's chest. Maybe Jack could.

"Move!" Tooth yelled, making him jump, and then she took a reviver and shocked their friend so that he jolted awake, his eyes wide.

Sandy gaped at Jack, who had irises coated in black nightmare sand.

So _that's_ where it was hiding.

The blackness began to fade away leaving Jack's regular pair of icy blue eyes...except they looked shattered.

The sight broke his heart.

Once Jack's eyes turned to normal, he promptly collapsed and fell back into his pillow with a dull thud, completely unconscious. Sandy hit him with dreamsand so fast that it would of been impossible for any more nightmares to take hold of Jack's mind, and instantly golden sand floated above their friend's head.

They all stood there in silence, panting from the effort of holding Jack down. Sandy didn't know that Jack had that kind of energy left in him...maybe he wasn't entirely broken yet.

Maybe there was still hope.

**Tooth**:

She dropped the sizzling revivers to the tile floor with a bang breaking everyone out of their deep thoughts, and they all turned to her with surprise. What? She was smarter than all of them, all of the guys knew it, so it wasn't unexpected that she would solve a problem in a crisis. Jack almost dying in his sleep...the adrenaline only made her brain work more efficiently.

Tooth ignored the guy's surprised expressions and returned her focus to Jack, who had been screaming the human girls' name in the middle of his nightmare. What had he been dreaming about? The way he had yelled...it was horrifying. She didn't even know that people could sound so scared. Was that the result of all the pain that he had gone through?

The golden sand above Jack's head changed from the form of snowflakes and snowball fights with kids to the girl's face, the dead one. The one whose memories that Tooth had seen.

The one that she had been insanely jealous of, and who she had wondered why Jack was even interested in. The one who was only a child and had gotten murdered, and Tooth couldn't stop it.

Suddenly and uncontrollably, she began to cry.

* * *

**SANDY! YAY! I love you yellow man! 3**

**No cliffhanger?! WHAT?! Well there's still the never ending suspense...but it wasn't that huge of a cliffhanger. I think this chapter is a first.**

**A little bit of Tooth...trust me we'll see more of her soon. Jamie too. ;)**

**Poor Jack...yeah, if anyone wanted to know the rest of his nightmare was basically trying not to drown in blood. Cheery right?**

**Pitch needs to die. If he was real, I would kill him. Brutally.**

**THE NEXT CHAPTER IS 50! My plan: to make you all cry your eyes out**

**BTW 50 is in Jack's pov. Just saying.**


	50. Chapter 50: I Remember

**CHAPTER _50_! OMG! I have waited a thousand years for this.**

**I think I'm gonna cry.**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**pinkittwice54: Yep. I'm cruel. I know it. :P**

**Fellowship of Avengers: HEY! You don't believe me? LOOK AT THIS CHAPTER! Someday = this chapter. ;)**

**stardust2011: I'm sorry** **that this story makes it hard for you not to cry...but that's my job! :)**

**firedrakegirl: I feel sorry for Jack too... T_T**

**pearl99: YAY! You got an account! And yes I am SO EXCITED that we're at chapter 50! :D**

**Hsj1022: Thank you! :)**

**Savarra: Thanks I am so glad that you love my story! :)**

**SmileYouLiveLonger: I know** **how you feel...but she's dead. Sorry. :(**

**Innocentangel5500: IKR! Sandy is amazing! And yeah...I am mean to my characters. :P thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Neusuada: Lol OMG thanks! :)**

**FirefliesGlowInTheDark: LOL I'm so glad you loved the horror! :) And yeah, he KNEW that he was asleep so he should've expected it...but he didn't. And yes Pitch should die and everyone has gone through more than enough pain...but that doesn't mean it's going to stop. ;) And I think I have like 30,000 views. Yeah I know, it's a big number. And I am terrible to my characters, I know. It's a gift. You were right, there is going to be more Jamie, I know how many chapters are left, and most of all, IM NOT GONNA TELL YOU! :) XD ((I'm so nice, right?))**

**(GUEST-SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Dark River22: OMG thanks! Yes, and lots of people have informed me that I should write horror... :)**

**Guest: YEP! Congrats Tooth! Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 50:**

_Snowflakes_.

They rained down from above, sprinkling the ground in a layer of white, and he outstretched his hand, allowing them to flutter into his palm. They didn't melt from his touch and he pulled them closer to his face, and then blew on them gently, sending them flying with the wind. A smile lit up his face, and something deep down told him that he hasn't smiled in a long time, but he couldn't remember why.

"_It doesn't matter_," a voice told him, "_You're here, you can be happy now."_

Jack scrunched his eyebrows, wondering where the voice was coming from it why the warm feeling inside of him felt so foreign. He was a winter spirit, but still, being happy shouldn't be that strange to him. He started prying his mind for answers, and almost accomplished in wiping the smile off his face when something soft smashed into the side of his head.

The drop of fear that stung his skin quickly passed when familiar laughter filled his ears, and he glanced up, wiping the snow out of his eyes.

"Hey Jamie!" He yelled, and the younger boy ran over to him, hugging him tightly.

"What's that for?" He asked smiling, ruffling Jamie's hair. Jamie quickly pulled away, looking embarrassed.

"I don't know...I just missed you." Jamie said sheepishly, and then a grin broke out on the younger boy's face.

"Besides, these guys can't throw snowballs as well as you can." He added, gesturing to his group of friends who were having a snowball fight a hundred feet away, and Jack smirked.

"Well I can tell your arm's gotten a little better...wanna test it?" He asked, and Jamie's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Here, watch this." Jack said, forming a perfectly round snowball in his fingertips, before throwing it effortlessly towards Jamie's group of friends. It hit Pippa square in the head, knocking her' to the ground. Everyone around them starting laughing, and spun around to look in Jamie's direction.

He pointed at Jamie laughing, and the other kids started chucking wads of hardly packed snow at Jamie's head. His friend gave him a fake glare before diving behind a snowbank.

Jack flew around the bunch of kids as a full out war broke out, dodging countless snowballs and providing them with amo, and knocking each of them face first into the snow at least a dozen times. Throughout the whole thing he was smiling like crazy and laughing, the wonderful sensation of joy filling his body, making the whole world seem to glow.

By now almost all of the kids had quit, leaving him alone against Jamie and Pippa. White crystal flakes still drizzled, giving everything a sparkly coating, making the world outside beautiful. He was in such a daze that he didn't even notice Jamie and Pippa ambush him with snowballs, knocking him into the snow.

"Good one!" Jamie told her, and Jack heard the sound of a high five as he rested in the snow. It was so soft, and for some reason he felt exhausted.

"I can't believe they got you." Jack's eyes flew open as the sweet, delicate voice reached his ears, and he found himself gazing into a pair of turquoise eyes above him.

"_Lyla_." He breathed, and she smiled down at him.

"Hey Jack." She replied just as quietly, and then he broke through his haziness.

"Lyla!" He exclaimed, excitement blooming inside of him and he turned over, jumping up and hugging her tightly, practically tackling her into the snow. An expression of surprise crossed her face and then she wore the same smile that captivated his own face. Ecstatic feelings rushed through him and he was just so happy to see her, it was insane.

"Are you okay?" She laughed, and he realized that he was practically laying on top of her, and her face was so close that their noses were almost touching. For some reason this didn't bother him, at all.

"Yeah...I just missed you." He replied, and she was really warm this close, even through her layers of clothes he could feel human heat. She smelled really good too...like flowers and moonlight. Really girly, but really nice all the same.

"Can you get off of me now?" Lyla asked, breaking him out of his daydream. He smirked and rolled off, landing in the snow next to her. The layers of white felt like a pile of blankets and he gazed up at the sky, letting out a deep breath.

He felt her fingers trail down his arm and then once they found his hand, she intertwined them together. A warm, fuzzy feeling blossomed inside of his chest, and he felt like he was floating on a cloud. He squeezed tightly, enjoying the sensation of having someone touch him, and that it was Lyla. Her skin really was soft.

She didn't say anything so he didn't speak, and they ended up just lying there in the snowbank, gazing up at the sky until he fell asleep, clutching onto her hand as tight as he could, never letting go.

* * *

Bright light shone into Jack's face and he blinked several times, waiting for his vision to clear. Everything was white, and he rubbed his fingers together between the bedsheets.

He wasn't in the snow, or in Burgess. He didn't have any idea where he was, but all he knew was that he wanted to be holding her hand again. Maybe that way he wouldn't be so scared of this new place...

He was on a bed, backed against the wall in the center of a big empty white room. He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, he couldn't remember ever being there before, and had no idea how he had gotten there.

"_Ow_...!" He muttered, pain shot through his body as he tried to sit up, and he collapsed back onto the pillow. Everything hurt, horribly, almost as if he had been hit by a bus. Repeatedly. He bit his lip to stop himself from moaning, and he wondered why he was in so much pain.

"H-hello?" Jack called out, his voice surprisingly shaky. Speaking burned his throat, almost as if it had been rubbed down with sandpaper from overuse. He closed his eyes, tears stinging in them from the pain. Why did it hurt so much? He couldn't even remember.

Suddenly he heard the sound of a door slamming, and he cracked his eyelids open, only to find Tooth and Sandy rushing over next to him. A smile broke out across his face.

"Jack! Sandy said that you woke up and-!" Tooth began, and then gazed at him in confusion.

"Jack...why are you _smiling_?" She questioned, and he gave her a miniature shrug, biting his lip again afterwards to hold in any sounds of pain, before replying.

"I don't know, I-I'm just glad to see you guys. The last time I saw you...we w-were all f-fighting." He said truthfully, remembering how when the last time he was at the Pole, he had yelled at everyone for trying to tell him that he couldn't love Lyla. A strange feeling began to form in the pit of his stomach, but he brushed it away.

"But it's a-alright now. Where am I anyways? And w-why does m-my voice make me sound l-like a dying cat?" He continued, and Tooth and Sandy gawked him.

"W-_What_?" He asked, why were they staring at him like that?

Suddenly North and Bunnymund ran into the room, looking panicked, and he smirked.

"Hey k-Kangaroo!" He called out, waving his arm, but then a blast of anguish rolled over him and he cried out in pain, dropping his arm. Black spots clouded his vision and he heard his friends frantically yelling about something, and then finally his sight cleared.

"He called me a _freaking kangaroo_ mate." Bunny told North, who rolled his eyes.

"We'll isn't that w-what you are?" Jack grinned despite the aching pain in his body, which still confused him. Everyone gaped at him, and then exchanged glances that he didn't understand.

"Guys? What's g-going on? Why are you acting so w-_weird_?" He asked, his raspy voice slowly rising.

"Jack-"

"Why does everything h-_hurt_? W-Where did all of these b-bandages come from?" He glanced at his torso which was wrapped tightly in white, and then he returned his focus to his friends, who just gazed at him sadly.

"W-What happened to m-me?" He asked, his throat seeming to close up as fear flowed freely through his veins. No one responded for a moment, and then Tooth sighed.

"You were..._gone_, Jack. And then you fell asleep for a few days-"

"How l-long?" He asked, cutting her off.

"How long _what_-?"

"How long was I g-_gone_?" He asked, and she ran her fingers through her hair feathers, avoiding his gaze.

"You were gone for a week, and you've been asleep for the past three days." Tooth explained, and he frowned. That was a long time...what could of possibly happened to him in that short of a time that had made him feel like a train wreck?

"Must've b-been a l-long week, huh?" He asked her, smirking, glancing at each of their faces. But his family wouldn't smile back at him, they looked guilty and pitiful and...reluctant.

"You really don't remember, do you frostbite?" Bunnymund asked him, and he grew wearier.

"N-no, I don't. I j-just want to g-get better a-again, Jamie p-probably is f-freaking out." Jack said, recalling how the last time he had forgot to say goodnight to Jamie, the kid had freaked out and assumed the world had ended. Lyla did the same thing, when he hasn't been around for a whole day, she had gone into the woods by herself and almost gotten herself drowned-

_Oh_.

He froze, the smile dropping from his face, his eyes locked on the blank white ceiling, which resembled his mind. He felt the entire world spiraling into a black hole and he let go of the handful of bedsheets that he had been holding onto in his right hand, because there was nothing left for him to grasp onto. Nothing.

It was gone.

Completely. Forever. That little bit of happiness that he had found in a dream was gone.

His friends were repeating his name over and over again, their voices etched with worry, and he chose to ignore them. Tooth grabbed onto his arm, and he guessed it was because he looked dead. He felt dead.

"Jack can you hear me-"

"_I-I r-remember_." He mumbled, and she stopped.

"_What_?"

"I _remember_." He said, and then he started crying, hard.

He remembered everything.

* * *

**T-T I tried to make this as perfect as I could, you guys deserve it. Even though nothing I write is perfect. PLEASE REVIEW WE ARE ALMOST AT 400! :)**


	51. Chapter 51

**Sorry for making you guys wait like, forever for this update, but I hope it'll be satisfying since its super long! I start school in less than a week so I wanted to get at least one update in before then. :(**

**I wrote a prologue, so if you get confused that's probably why. PLEASE go read it and tell me if it's enticing or not. :)**

**CONGRATS to _Pearl99_ for being my _400th_ reviewer! (Even though I have even more reviews! KEEP IT UP!)**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**Neusuada: I'm sorry to** **inform you, but sadly I actually end a chapter there. I know, I'm a super mean author! :)**

**Sungirl12: THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING! And P.S, you know the 400th reviewer. She had a sleepover with us this summer.**

**Fellowship of Avengers: Yes, it was cute and sweet while it lasted. YOU NEED A HUG! HUGS FOR YOU!**

**dancingcartoon: ha Ha HA! You thought that everything was back to normal in the beginning of chapter 50...LOL! Please excuse my evil mockingness, but I am actually kinda glad that happened. You were so happy...and then...yeah...XD**

**Innocentangel5500: I'm glad you love this story! And yes, everyone seems to want Lyla back really bad...**

**Sol and G'syr: I cannot answer your questions, sadly, but yeah, THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING!**

**chocykitty: ha ha ha you wanted to be the 400th reviewer, didn't you? XD but thank you for reviewing anyway, and I'm so glad that you think my writing comes pretty close to perfect. I just get so insecure about this story...**

**FirefliesGlowInTheDark: No, I haven't prewritten any of the chapters...except for the shower one...but I still know what is going to happen. :) And yes, the ending will make your feels explode, cry, and then die. Maybe they'll even be resurrected or something. And yeah, Jack shouldn't of gotten so attached during his dream...BUT HE DID AND THEN REMEMBERED EVERYTHING! I'm so mean to him...it's not even funny. WHY IS EVERYONE FREAKING OUT ABOUT LYLA'S BODY? Honestly, every single reviewer needs to work at a funeral home or something. And, sorry, I can't tell you what Pitch is up too, cause that would spoil everything... HE HE HE!**

**Hannah4793: Lol Thank you! And yeah, I can't believe I've gotten this far. But it's all because of my amazing reviewers! :D**

**firedrakegirl: Yes, not being able** **to remember and then having everything crash down onto him is horrible...this story is so dark...but I love it that way. ANGST!**

**Pearl99: Thank you! And congrats on being the 400th reviewer! :D**

**crazycatfishlol123: Wow...I can't believe that you read this story so quickly...! And yeah, whenever I reread it to get pumped for the next chapter, I always aww and cry! Thank you for reviewing! :)**

**Savarra: Yes, chapter 50 was so sad... T-T**

**thehomiewhowrites: THANK YOU! I love hearing about people who have read my story in such short amounts of time...it makes me so proud... :)**

**(GUEST-SHOUT-OUTS)**

**ohmygods: LOL thanks! I'm so glad you like, no, LOVE this story! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 51:**

Jamie had stayed home for the past three days, spending all of his time in his room or on the couch. His Mom thought that he was sick because of the way he was behaving, but she had no idea that he had witnessed the death of his cousin, and had seen his older brother/best friend get hurt. Really bad.

His Mom had no idea, the cops had no idea, and they wouldn't stop questioning him about it. When he had first come home his Mom had out him to bed before he could be interrogated, but in the morning a bunch of clueless adults had asked him where Lyla was. In response, he just sighed and told them repeatedly that...they were in the woods, and then she was gone. The police had searched the woods for traces of anything...and of course found nothing.

So they just assumed she was dead. And they assumed correctly.

Currently, he was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, a thousand thoughts spinning through his mind. Where was Jack? He was with the Guardians, right? Were they fixing him? Was he going to be okay? Jamie couldn't imagine anything else.

Jamie thought he knew how Jack got hurt so badly. He saw it in a movie, in Iron Man, when Tony Stark got kidnapped, everyone in the movie called it a certain word. _Torture_. Jamie swallowed hard at the thought.

His best friend had been _tortured_.

Why? He didn't even understand much about what torture meant, but he knew that it was really really bad and that it caused a whole lot of screaming, and the people usually died. Why would anyone even do that to another person? Why Jack, of all people. Jack was invisible, Jamie shouldn't of had to worry about his immortal friend getting hurt.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door, and he ignored it, expecting another officer to walk into the room. But what he heard surprised him.

"Hi Jamie." A small timid voice said, and he turned his head to see his friend Pippa standing in the doorway. His eyes widened and he sat up, what was she doing here?

"Pippa? What-" he began but she cut him off.

"Your Mom let me see you. Everyone is worried about you, and I heard...about...," she kicked over his backpack, staring at the floor awkwardly. He swallowed, knowing what she was talking about. He wondered why she came, and none of his other friends, who were apparently concerned about him. Maybe it was because she was almost eleven, practically a year older than him.

"Yeah." He finished for her, hanging his feet over the side of his bed. She silently came over and jumped up onto the bed next to him, and they just sat there for a little while.

Jamie felt very, very old all of a sudden. Even older than Pippa. And he didn't like it, but something told him that he couldn't change it.

Maybe that was what death did to people.

**Tooth:**

Screams erupted from down the hall and she nearly jumped out of her chair, even after a week she hadn't gotten used to Jack's screaming fits.

"There he goes again..." Bunny sighed, and Sandy quickly flew out of the room towards the infirmary.

Tooth stared into empty space and listened as the screams slowly died down, until there was no sound at all. Sandy reentered the room, and collapsed into a chair, looking as exhausted as they all felt. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't ward off the nightmares. They seemed determined to break through the dreamsand, and they always did.

Her fellow Guardians had stayed awake ever since Jack had gone missing in the first place, and the stress and weariness from the battle made them all long for sleep. But they, like herself, were devoted to Jack and therefore wouldn't rest until he was safe again.

_If_ he ever was safe again.

Just imagining what his nightmares could be about frightened her, and she wished that he could sleep peacefully for more than a few hours. He would need to, in order for his wounds to heal properly. His injuries had been slowly fading away...the smaller scratches mostly gone. But he still had dozens of broken bones and stabbing punctures, and the huge slashes had scabbed over, which were clearly going to leave scars. The yetis had kept him on an IV and pain medication to try and help, but unless Jack could get a break he wouldn't be able to fully heal.

_Physically_, that is. There was a mental battle raging inside of him, that much was clear to her. She knew from the moment that he remembered everything that had happened to him. All of the light had shattered from his eyes, making them look completely dead, and he had just stared at the ceiling blankly, crying silently. Jack didn't move whenever he was awake, only during the nightmares. He didn't talk to them that much either. Tooth didn't know what it was, depression, shock, terror, of a mix of them all. But either way, she had a feeling that when it was all over, Jack would never be the same again.

_If_ it was ever over.

Her friends seemed to have read her mind.

"What are we going to do?" North asked to no one in particular, resting his head in his hands. Tooth raised her eyebrows. North was the leader, everyone except for him should be asking that question.

This just proved how dire of a situation they were in.

Everyone just shrugged. Maybe they had become almost as depressed as Jack...but watching him deteriorate away had broken all of their hearts.

"How're we gonna fix him?" Bunny muttered, and Tooth felt her shoulders sag as she dropped her hands.

"Maybe he _can't_ be fixed..." She said softly, and all of their heads jerked towards her.

"_What_? Tooth you can't say that!" North exclaimed, and Sandy nodded vigorously.

"There's _always_ hope mate, we can't give up on him." Bunny added seriously, staring deep into her eyes. She sighed.

"I know, but...I'm just worried that... _he'll_ give up on _us_." She admitted, and then there was silence.

"_I didn't think of that_." Sandy worded, and Tooth suddenly felt guilty for diminishing everyone's hopes. She stood up quickly and walked out of the room, deciding to go watch Jack again, so she could get Sandy at the first sign of a nightmare.

Besides, she couldn't stand to see the looks on their faces anymore. He heart didn't think it could handle breaking that much longer.

**Jack:**

He stared hazily up at the blurred white ceiling, his entire body throbbing painfully in time with each heavy heartbeat. He squinted his eyes and tried to focus on the swirled patterns and designs in the plaster ceiling, attempting to distract himself from his most recent nightmare and prevent his body from slipping into unconsciousness.

His fingers trembled with fear, even though Sandy had just come in the infirmary to calm him down. But the nightmare had seemed so real, so vivid, and during it he had believed it to be real.

He now had a very prominent fear of knives.

Jack bit down hard on his bottom lip to contain the whimpers of fear that were begging to be released, and tears began to leak into his eyes as he recalled his previous nightmare. It had involved each and every person that he cared about being murdered with slender silver blades. Chopping all of their limbs off, slowly, until nothing was left but a pile of bloody flesh.

Jamie and Lyla were the last of his family to go. They took the longest.

But he had been the last one to be murdered, after helplessly watching everyone else leave the world, he had been shoved down to the floor and stabbed repeatedly, until he was finally forced awake by Sandy.

Jack could still hear their screams echoing in his ears, still see the blood pooled on the floor. Still smell the death.

So now he was afraid of knives as well.

He strained his eyes, attempting to block out all of the fear and pain. Sweat beaded his forehead and he clamped his mouth shut, trying not to moan. His body ached and he felt like his bones were on fire.

His extremely thin and breakable frame was still littered with countless injuries, all of which still sent waves of anguish through him even though they were treated. Just laying there uselessly hurt horribly, and he found himself faintly wishing for some of the drugs that his friends had given him on the first day.

Jack shuddered. The sedation medication had only relieved him temporarily, but had made his nightmares more lengthy and vivid than ever. But still...sometimes he longed for the pain to go away, even if it was only for an hour or so.

But what he really wanted was for the bleeding to stop. Even though his internal bleeding had ceased, the result of very painful surgery, moving even an inch caused blood to trickle out of his deeper wounds. He seemed to be always bleeding, it was a never ending cycle of pain. His friends had been forced to change his bandages multiple times in the past five days because the maroon liquid just wouldn't stop coming.

He even had to get a freaking blood transplant, two actually. One on the first day he got back, and another during the surgery.

Jack used to think that he would never, ever need a blood transplant or internal surgery. He was _immortal_, he would never be injured that intensely.

_Yeah right_. Look where that thinking had got him.

He averted his eyes from the ceiling and glanced at the door, which was sealed shut. He knew that North had stationed Yeti's outside to guard him and alert Sandy whenever he started screaming, or get him water or something. Water sounded really nice right now. But not too much, not enough to drown him. Maybe only a glass of it, to make the scratching in his throat go away...

Jack changed his mind once he thought of a way to be drowned with a glass of water. It wasn't _impossible_.

Besides, he couldn't of said anything or called out anyways. He only made a sound when the fear or anguish forced him too. Several of his ribs were cracked, and spasms of pain jerked through his chest with each short, uneven breath.

Jack glanced at the Christmas-colored clock that was positioned above the doorframe, and mentally groaned when he realized that he had only been awake for twenty minutes since Sandy had woken him from his nightmare. And tried to put him back to sleep, but he was fighting it.

Even though the pain had slightly decreased over the past five days, the strength of his nightmares had gotten worse. He used to enjoy the good dreams, but not he dreaded them, knowing that the happiness was short lived and that it was only a matter of time before the darkness took over. The blackness stole his wonderful dreams and morphed them into something sick and twisted, mocking him and digging into the deepest part of his mind. Every second was a constant mental battle, and he was so done with it.

So Jack had decided to just force himself awake.

But the dreamsand seemed to disagree with him decision, and was swirling around his heavily throbbing forehead, trying to penetrate his mind. But he had an insane amount of mental willpower, due to the fact that he didn't want to watch his family and Lyla brutally murdered again.

Tears stung in his eyes, they always did whenever he thought about her. He couldn't stop them. She was gone forever and it was all his fault. He was too weak and stupid and pathetic to save her, and she was dead because of him.

The nightmares tended to remind him of that.

He felt like there was an endless pit in the center of his chest, an aching hole. He missed her so, so much. He would never see her again, never hear her voice say his name in the special way that she did, never smell her hair again when she hugged him like the world was ending, and never feel the comforting temperature of her skin when she held his hand. He was immortal, and now that she was dead there was no way to reach her, even though all he wanted to do was die.

Because maybe, just maybe, if he was dead, the pain and loneliness would end.

He closed his eyelids for a second, and frozen water leaked out of his eyes, leaving ice across his eyelashes and down his cheeks.

Everything hurt _so_ much. He just wanted it to be over.

The golden sand made halos around his head and he could feel his eyelids dropping, and he wanted to fight sleep so badly, but he was too weak to resist. His mind screaming at him to hold on, he closed his eyes permanently, the sweet sound of a angel's voice whispering to him that everything was going to be alright. That he should go to sleep.

The golden dreamsand crashed down onto him, dragging him unwillingly into a world of false happiness.

One that was only the bridge to his own personal hell.

* * *

**He he he...the next chapter is where I am going to satisfy my sadistic needs. Just giving you a heads up.**

**JAMIE IS SO CUTE! *0***


	52. Chapter 52: Go Away

**Okay, I know I haven't updated in a very long time, and I feel terrible for torturing you people. It's just that I started school and I haven't had a free moment, not even on the weekends. But I updated now...so please don't kill me...**

**Oh wait. After you read this chapter, you will want to kill me. As usual.**

**I really think that we have a positively strong, reader/writer relationship going on here.**

**But anyways...I don't know if this chapter is good...I always think that they're bad though.**

**I am the queen of bitter-sweetness... ;)**

**(SHOUT-OUTS)**

**CammieSarah51: Okay, well, I'm sorry that you're considering the idea that you should stop reading this book because its depressing...cause you would be missing out. :( But it does get better. Kinda. It just takes a while.**

**Fellowship of Avengers: I'm so glad you love the prologue! :) That just makes my day! And yes, they all really need some hope...and I'm evil. I won't lie. ;)**

**dancingcartoon: OMG YOU LIKE MY IRON MAN REFERENCE?! ME TOO! Seriously...I love the avengers, since they are like amazing, and since Jamie is amazing I thought it was only suitable for him to make iron man references... ;)**

**guardianofartbravery: Thanks! And yep, I have sadistic 'needs' sometimes, also known as cravings. ;) [I'm weird, I know]**

**Pearl99: Thanks! And yes...this story makes me yell, laugh, and cry all at the same time...**

**FirefliesGlowInTheDark: OMG I HAVE MISSED YOU SO MUCH MY FRIEND! And no, I just have an estimate of how many chapters are left. I haven't prewritten anything...except for the shower...0_0**

**ONTO THE NEXT TOPIC!**

**And you said: (I quote)**

**"_I have to ask something; does this story have a happy ending? Or is it like Romeo and Juliet, where the story's amazing but has a horrible ending where they both die?_"**

**Hmm...should I answer that question? I THINK NOT! Sorry...don't want to spoil anything. You'll just have to wait to find out. ;)**

**And YES, we should form a rebellion against Pitch, NOBODY FEAR ANYTHING. Except I keep on having crazy nightmares...ugh...**

**chocykitty: I find it funny that you suggested that I might simply resurrect Lyla only to kill her again...and that you admit you were sad that there wasn't torture in the last chapter. You make me laugh my friend. :)**

**Sol and G'syr: There is never enough sadistic-ness.**

**ohmygods:** **Since you told me that my last (7) paragraphs of Chapter 51 were "_so beautifully written and seemingly had a sort of very deep philosophy to them_," I reread them and I think I know what you meant. Huh. Didn't know I could write like that.**

**o0Melantha0o: I didn't want to do this, but I must.**

**You said: (I quote)**

**"_You, my friend, are a freaking sadist...I admit that I love the story line, but even Pitch would never go as far as that. He wants fear. Not death. I know I'm being a bit harsh but I think that you put in way too much torture, pain, and gore. You have a very violent mind. But that's only my opinion. It's just too sadistic and bloody."_**

**Now I admit that I am a sadist, and if my mother knew what I thought/wrote about she would send me to an asylum...but I have a 'theory' that justifies what I do.**

**MY PITCH THEORY:**

1.) He has killed someone before. Sandy, in fact. He seemed to enjoy that. And I don't think that he expected Sandy to come back to life.

2.) He kidnapped the Tooth Fairies and is an experienced kidnapper.

3.) He threw Jack in a ditch and broke his staff.

4.) He has tried to kill Jack before: (throwing sharp things at him repeatedly, at least twice in the movie) + (knocking him out of the sky, at least twice)

5.) He spent an entire 1 and a half hour movie trying to 'destroy' aka kill, all of the guardians so he could take over the world.

**I am justified to make him do what I make him do. Just felt like I needed to point that out.**

**Amber: Thanks! I'm glad you love my prologue! :)**

**WARNING: Violence, Sadism**

* * *

**CHAPTER 52:**

She stared at him, her eyes digging into his, and she slowly began to move her hands up his chest, wrapping around his neck. She didn't say anything, just, looked at him. And that seemed to be enough.

She pressed herself against him and he leaned in closer, their lips brushing against each other. He rubbed his thumb down her cheek and traced her jaw-line, and she smiled, kissing him softly. She was like that, soft. Gentle. Delicate.

_Breakable_.

Suddenly Jack felt something inside of him that was so strong that it hurt, and he wanted it gone. He wanted that painful emotion erased. He hugged her tightly and kissed her harder, and somehow the delicateness vanished. It was replaced by something else, more intense, but even more beautiful the same.

Most importantly...he didn't even know what temperature it was anymore. He was cold and she was hot and when they kissed...he couldn't even describe it.

Somehow they were backed up against a wall, and he pushed against her so forcefully that she would have fallen over without it. She laced her fingers through his hair and tugged, and he felt his head getting dizzy from lack of air, in a nice way.

There wasn't an inch of space between them and he liked it that way, because she couldn't leave him. She kissed him harder and his entire body felt like it was melting, and soon they were compressed together against the wall. She starting emitting soft little sounds that sent his heart beating faster, her body resting tenderly in his arms.

He felt invisible again, like he no longer existed, except that now she was invisible with him.

And that made it okay somehow.

She grazed her lips against his ear, whispering something, and he strained to hear it. But he couldn't hear anything.

Because now there was nothing but silence, and it was all gone.

Lyla was _gone_.

Darkness consumed everything, and then his eyes flew open.

Jack had somehow ended up on the floor, lying on his back, facing the ceiling, which didn't really look like a ceiling at all. The ceiling of the infirmary was white and swirly, and now it was just...

_Black_.

His vision became a hundred percent sharper and he saw everything in vivid detail, felt everything. The ground below him was hard and compact, and he jolted up into a sitting position, his heart rate accelerating instantly.

He couldn't be here, it wasn't possible...

But he was. Everything was crystal clear, he could see every shadow on the wall, count the exact number of bars lining the cage...

Oh god. This was _real_.

It had to be real. It looked real, felt real, and he even had the terrible feeling that he had grown accustomed too, the one where he felt like spiders were crawling up his back because someone was watching him...

"You really do have quite the imagination, Jack." the voice seemed to be coming from right behind him, and he spun around, his eyes widening. But there was nothing there, nothing that he could see.

But he had heard..._he had heard it_. So it had to be there.

Jack slowly rose to his feet, the floor swinging slightly from the movement, and dark chuckling filled the air. Tremors of fear vibrated through his body and he scrunched his eyes shut, wishing that he wasn't in this place. He hated this place...

That was when he realized that he was _standing_. On his feet. Without falling down.

He looked down at himself, and he wasn't wearing any bandages, there weren't any open wounds. He looked perfectly fine.

Which meant this was all in his head, that it wasn't real.

Jack clenched his fists as the laughing stopped, and the silence frightened him. Even though he knew it was a dream now, he was still terrified. He could see everything clearly, and he could tell this time it was going to be one of the worst.

"Just look at you...all bright and shiny and new..." The voice laughed, and he reopened his eyes. Pitch was standing on the other side of the bars, and Jack wanted to wake up. He wanted to wake up so, so badly.

But he couldn't.

Jack glared at Pitch with loathing, fury burning a hole in his chest.

"You're not real. Go _away_." hearing his own voice surprised him, it wasn't raspy and he could actually speak an entire sentence without cracking. He almost sounded like his old self...except for the fact that he sounded like he was a terrified little kid.

Pitch just smirked at him and began pacing around the cage, and Jack was trying not to have a breakdown. He didn't want to live through this again, even if it was in a dream.

"I was wondering if you would figure that out. Usually you're too ignorant to realize anything, but I guess it's different this time, since you knocked yourself out." Pitch said, grinning. Jack scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, what the hell was he talking about?

"You can't fight dreamsand _Jacky_, or else it'll put you to sleep for a long time." Pitch said mockingly, seeming to know exactly what he was thinking.

Jack felt chills roll down his spine, and he realized that this nightmare was going to be longer than the others...and that was when his throat choked up with fear.

Pitch was staring at him with that look, the one that meant that the pain was getting very, very close. He slowly began to back up, his heart pounding heavily in his chest, and that was when he heard a snap, and all of a sudden he was falling.

He smacked against the pavement, smashing painfully against the concrete. His head exploded with pain and he could feel hot, sticky blood tricking down the side of his face. He couldn't move, and he drifted over unconsciousness as waves of pain rolled through him, small moans escaping his lips. He cracked his eyelids open a little, but something lifted him up from the collar of his hoodie, slamming him against the wall. He gasped with pain and began clawing desperately at the hands that were trying to strangle him, his head insanely foggy as he fought for air. His lungs burned and he thrashed around wildly, kicking his legs but hitting nothing. Laughing stung his ears and he eventually stopped struggling, losing energy quickly. He thought for sure he was going to pass out, but then the grip on his throat loosened and he collapsed onto the floor, gulping in deep breaths of air.

Jack finally caught his breath, but his head still throbbed agonizingly, and he gazed up at the ceiling hazily. The pain felt real, very real. How could it be all in his head?

Something kicked him in the stomach, making him scream and curl into himself, biting his lip trying to contain his cries of pain. It hurt.

"You're _pathetic_. I don't even know why your friends bothered to steal you from me, you're worthless anyways." Pitch said coldly, and Jack glared at the floor, avoiding eye contact. He knew that eye contact made him actually believe the words.

"_Go_..._away_." Jack said, and he could literally feel the psychopath grinning at him.

"I won't go away Frost, and neither will you." Pitch said, and Jack scrunched his eyes shut, visibly shaking with fear. The pain wasn't done yet.

He felt something collide with his stomach again, and he screamed.

* * *

**I am so evil...I sicken myself sometimes. But it gets better, I promise. It just has to get worse first. PLEASE REVIEW! :D LUV U All!**


End file.
